David Kwiatkowski, the medical technician who was accused of causing a multi-state outbreak of hepatitis C is pleading guilty to all charges, receiving a prison term of 30 to 40 years, reports CNN.  He was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2010, ten months before he started working at New Hampshire’s Exeter Hospital.  Kwiatkowski, addicted to drugs, took syringes full of the painkiller fentanyl intended for patients scheduled for surgery.  He injected himself with the painkiller and returned the syringe filled with saline.  He also inadvertently added hepatitis C from his infected blood.

Prior to coming to New Hampshire, Kwiatkowski worked in 18 hospitals in seven states, reports the Guardian.  Though he was not diagnosed with hepatitis C until 2010, officials believe he still carried the virus.  In New Hampshire, 32 patients have been diagnosed with the same strain of hepatitis C that Kwiatkowski has.  In addition, there have been seven cases in Maryland, six in Kansas, and one in Pennsylvania.  Kwiatkowski also admitted to swapping drugs in a similar way in Texas and Georgia.  So far, the one patient in Pennsylvania has died, with hepatitis C being a major contributing cause.

In addition to the one fatality, there have been several cases with serious health complications, reports the Seattle Post Intelligencer.  The replacement of painkillers with saline resulted in one patient having to delay his surgery, resulting in liver complications.  Another patient has had to seek mental health counseling to cope with contracting the virus.  Others have been unable to return to work or live in fear of passing on the virus to their loved ones.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains that hepatitis C is a liver disease resulting from a hepatitis C virus infection.  The severity of the disease varies from a few weeks of a mild illness to a lifelong illness.  Chronic hepatitis can create long-term health problems and even lead to death.  Hepatitis C is most often spread by needle sharing, but prior to widespread screening of donated blood and organs, it was also often spread through blood transfusions and organ transplants.  Less commonly, sharing personal care items that may have come into contact with blood and sexual intercourse can spread hepatitis C.

The CDC estimates 16,000 annual acute hepatitis C virus infections and 3.2 million that have chronic hepatitis C.  Approximately 75 to 85 percent of those that are infected end up with chronic hepatitis C.  However, some may not even know they are sick because they do not exhibit symptoms.