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There are at least six New Zealand women - and possibly many more - still to be alerted that they are at risk of having contracted hepatitis C from an Australian clinic.
The Ministry of Health said 55 New Zealand women were exposed to the hepatitis C risk when treated at Croydon Day Surgery clinic, in Victoria, between January 2006 and December 2009.
Australian media have reported that the women may have been infected deliberately by an anesthetist who worked there.
Victoria's Department of Health is trying to track down the 55 New Zealand women as part of its search for 3500 women considered to be at risk.
New Zealand's Ministry of Health said today that 49 of 59 New Zealand women who had come forward were referred to the Australian authorities.
The Ministry was not yet sure whether those were the women being tracked down, meaning between six and 55 women were yet to be found, a spokesman said.
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus that causes inflammation of the liver and which can have serious complications.
Victoria's Health Minister, Daniel Andrews, said it seemed the women were infected deliberately. "This is about, it would seem, the appalling, totally inappropriate behaviour of one particular person."
The state's chief health officer, Dr John Carnie, said: "It becomes more and more difficult to explain this by any other, by an accidental means."
The Health Ministry said any woman who had received treatment in a Melbourne private clinic in the four years from 2006 to 2009 should contact Healthline 0800 611 116 for advice.
The women will be referred to a New Zealand specialist for testing, counselling and treatment if required.
- NZ Herald staff
