Child Infected With Hepatitis C After Boston Hospital Transplant

Updated at 4:00 PM, December 22nd, 2011

BOSTON — 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.