Calgary tattoo shop customers urged to get tested for hepatitis

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Customers at a North East tattoo shop are being urged to get tested for hepatitis B after the business was temporarily closed for unsanitary practices.

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Little Witch Tattoo’s piercing services on NE 52nd Street were closed on April 29 after public health inspectors – acting on a complaint – found rules for sanitizing equipment were not being followed.

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The shutdown order was lifted last week after Alberta Health Services worked with the business owner.

AHS said that although the risk is very low, unsanitary piercing procedures can cause the spread of hepatitis B.

“To prevent the spread of infection from one person to another, equipment used for body piercing must be cleaned, disinfected and sterilized according to specific sanitary standards,” said Dr. Franco Rizzuti, Calgary Medical Officer of Health. , in a statement on Monday. .

“As the Little Witch Tattoo studio did not fully adhere to these sterilization processes, individuals who received piercing services as part of this operation may have been exposed to the hepatitis B virus.”

Anyone who received a body piercing between April 15 and May 1 should arrange a follow-up test with their doctor, AHS said.

No positive cases of hepatitis B have been linked to Northeast activity.

An inspection report said the store operator failed to inform AHS that it offered piercing services.

Other violations included jewelry used for piercing found soaked in a container of disinfectant solution. There were also no written procedures or sterility assurance documentation on site.

The notice does not affect tattoo services performed at Little Witch.