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Child Infected With Hepatitis C After Boston Hospital Transplant

Incorrect testing and communication delays are being blamed for a hepatitis C infection at Children's Hospital Boston.

A child received a piece of heart tissue in September without doctors knowing it came from a donor who had hepatitis C.

Dr. Matthew Kuehnert, with the Centers for Disease Control, says the problem was with an out-of-state tissue bank.

"If appropriate and accurate testing had been used, then these cases would have been prevented," he said. "In this case, there was a laboratory error which resulted in a test being read as negative when it was positive."

In a statement, Children's Hospital says the child doesn't have symptoms, and that the situation is "unfortunate." It says it's working to develop a treatment plan for the child.

Two people in other states also were infected with the virus, after receiving the donor's kidneys from Kentucky.

This article was originally published on December 22, 2011.

This program aired on December 22, 2011. The audio for this program is not available.

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