CONCORD, N.H. — Five more people have been diagnosed with the same strain of hepatitis C that a former traveling hospital worker is ­accused of spreading through tainted needles, bringing the total to 44 in four states.

David Kwiatkowski, whom prosecutors have called a ‘‘serial infector,’’ is charged with stealing painkillers from New Hampshire’s Exeter Hospital and replacing them with saline-­filled syringes tainted with his blood. He pleaded not guilty earlier this month to 14 federal drug charges and has been in jail since his arrest in July.