Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press; 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020 - Tuesday, October 28, 1997; 11:10 p.m. EST
Brigitte Greenberg, Associated Press Writer
More than 450 residents, most of them elderly, packed a high school auditorium Tuesday and grilled state health officials for several hours about the possible risk.
State health officials said the chance of exposure to any blood-borne virus was extremely remote, but recommended those who got the shots to be inoculated against hepatitis B as a precaution.
Those who received the flu shots are considered low risk for HIV and there was no indication any of the patients had either virus.
Dr. Claude Light resigned as town medical director Monday after state health officials received a complaint that he failed to change syringes for each patient while administering flu shots to 468 people at clinics earlier this month.
Light said he used fresh needles for every patient but didn't realize that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention standards require that the syringe also be changed for each patient. He used one syringe for each vial of flu vaccine, which contains 10 to 12 doses.
"When (the standards) changed, I probably should have changed, but I didn't know," said Light, who had been medical director for 30 years. "I thought what I was doing was risk free, no problem."
That worried people who got the shots in this town of 17,700 in southwestern Connecticut.
"I don't understand how something like this could be happening in this day and age. This is really horrible," said Mary Ann Marini, 63, who received a flu shot."
State epidemiologist Aaron Roome said exposure could only come if blood from an infected person was drawn back into the syringe, and then was injected into the next person. Light said no blood was ever drawn.
"The risk is extremely low. It's a remote possibility," Roome said. "As a precaution, we're recommending the vaccine."
He said exposure to HIV would be even more remote because HIV is not as hardy a virus as hepatitis B and would not be transmitted as easily.
Dr. Richard Melchreit of the state health department said the people who received the flu shots are considered an extremely low-risk group for HIV -- senior citizens, town and school system employees and some retired Roman Catholic nuns.
Still, his reassurances did not allay some peoples' fears.
"People here are all frightened," shouted Dora Laporte, to applause. "I think the city and whoever gave that shot are responsible."
Copyright 1997/The Associated Press. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Associated Press, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020.
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Copyright © 1997 - Associated Press. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the AP Permissions Desk.
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