Some Saskatoon health region patients may need to get retested for hep C

Anyone tested for hepatitis C within the Saskatoon Health Region between 2012 and March 2015 may need to get retested because of a change in technology.

The health region discovered in March that the test they have been using since 2012 was based on an older technology and not meeting an acceptable standard for patient care.

Doctors in the health region have been informed and will be deciding if they think their patients need a follow-up test.

Through a review, the health region discovered that 26 patients tested positive between Jan 1 and April of this year but did not end up having hepatitis C.

While the review did not show why 26 false positives happened, it did identify an issue with the test since 2012.

There have been about 4,000 hepatitis C tests using the older technology, however several of the tests would be repeat patients.