More and more valley residents are getting test results back after learning they may have been exposed to hepatitis and HIV. One local woman, who already knows she has the hepatitis-C virus, now says she believes the Endoscopy Center is responsible.
"I use my own cups, my own silverware, and I bleach everything," she said.
There's no such thing as being too careful for this mother of seven, who just a few months ago found out she had hepatitis-C.
"My kids are going to be without a mom. I'm going to die. My stomach dropped to my feet, and I just cried."
She wishes to remain anonymous because of what she calls a negative stigma. She went to the Endoscopy Center two years ago for a procedure, then a few months later, says she got extremely sick.
For almost a year and a half, she was unaware it was hepatitis-C. Six months ago, a blood test came back positive. After getting this letter Monday, she says it all made sense.
"I don't know why this is happening with me and how they could have been so reckless -- to do this to so many people's lives. I'm convinced it's from this place. There is no other way I could have got it, except from that place... no way."
But right now, there's no way to know for sure. Now her concern shifts to her family. Before knowing she was infected, she was intimate with her husband and is worried she may have passed it to him, though initial tests came up okay.
But now affection is limited. "I love my husband. I would love to be intimate with him. What if the condom breaks? I can't take that chance," she said.
"Try to be strong but at this point, it's hard to be strong because she is my wife and we have kids that we have raised together and I love her so much," said her husband.
But their main concern is the kids -- and what lies ahead for them.
The Southern Nevada Health District will only confirm that they have six reported cases of acute hepatitis-C. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says blood to blood is the most common form of transmission. Transmission through sexual activity is possible but not common.
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