Hepatitis Kills 40 Kidney Patients
An outbreak of hepatitis spread by contaminated dialysis machines has now killed 40 kidney patients in northeastern Brazil.
The 40th victim, who died Friday, was one of 126 patients who underwent dialysis Feb. 10-16 at the Kidney Disease Institute in Caruaru, 1,500 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro.
The health department in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco has said the water that ran through the dialysis machines was contaminated.