Two leading officials with a hospital in the city of Dongtai in Jiangsu Province have been fired, with a number of other medical workers being sanctioned, following revelations of close to 70 people being infected with Hepatitis C.

Undated photo of a nurse checks a patient using adialysis machine in a hospital. [File photo: IC]

Inspection teams from the National Health Commission say a blood purification center connected to Dongtai People's Hospital has been traced as the source of 69 confirmed Hepatitis C infections which have been spread through dialysis.

Investigators have determined that a lack of proper infection controls, as well as flaws in the management of the hospital, is what led to the incurable virus being transferred to the patients.

The victims are reportedly undergoing specialized therapies to try to reduce the likelihood of their Hep-C infection from becoming a chronic illness, which occurs in about 80 percent of those exposed to the virus.

Hepatitis C is an incurable viral infection which mostly affects the liver.

While anti-viral drugs are able to beat-back most of the acute symptoms resulting from Hepatitis C, the virus is known to cause long-term damage to a victim's liver, as well as increase the risk of other health problems, including auto-immune diseases and certain forms of cancer.