CRANBROOK, British Columbia -- About 3,000 people got the wrong results when they were tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia over an 18-month period, health officials say.

Because of a faulty diagnostic machine in this southeastern British Columbia town, test results for the two sexually transmitted diseases were reversed, Alison Paine, a spokeswoman for the Interior Health Authority, said Wednesday.

Officials were notified of the defective BD ProbeTec in July by the manufacturer, Becton, Dickenson and Co. of Paramus, N.J., and immediately stopped using it, Paine said.

"The machine was flipping the tests results," Paine said. "In other words, if you were a positive, you would have received a negative reading. If you were a negative, you would have received a positive reading."

About 3,000 people are believed to have been tested between Nov. 1, 2000, and May 24, 2002, and about 83 were told they were clean when they actually had one of the diseases. Most of the 83 have been contacted but not all, Paine said.

The rest of the 3,000 were told they were infected and were given treatment although they did not have the diseases, Paine said.

Cranbrook is about 120 miles northeast of Spokane, Wash.

Untreated, both diseases can lead to sterilization in women and increase the risk of contracting HIV or AIDS in men and women, according to the Web site of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

Authorities said they didn't know how many people may have had sex with 83 test subjects who didn't know they had at least one of the diseases.

"We're very concerned about consequences," said Dr. Paul Hasselback, the province's senior medical health officer for the region. "That's why it's important that the information get out there."

A spokeswoman for the manufacturer could not be reached for comment Wednesday by The Canadian Press, but a notice on the company's Web site Aug. 22 stated that the defect was found in two machines out of 1,000 tested worldwide.

The notice blamed incorrect installation of "optical bundles" and said the company was working with Health Canada to ensure a prompt recall.

"Neither the costs anticipated with this recall, nor the impact on BD's ProbeTec ET instrument business, are expected to be significant," the notice added.

According to the CDC, chlamydia may be one of the most dangerous sexually transmitted diseases among women.

It is easily cured with antibiotics but often goes undiagnosed because 75 percent of women and half the men that get it have no symptoms.

If left untreated, as many as 40 percent of infected women develop pelvic inflammatory disease, which can cause severe abdominal pain and fever.

Gonorrhea can also go undetected in women and also can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease.

One in five women with pelvic inflammatory disease becomes infertile.

Untreated gonorrhea in men can cause painful or swollen testicles that can lead to infertility. Gonorrhea can also affect the prostate and can lead to scarring inside the urethra, making urination difficult.

Newsday

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2003