HWN Suggests

Very low seroconversion rates after occupational exposure to HCV or HIV in Body Fluids

Healthcare workers exposed to body fluids contaminated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) or the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) face very low rates of seroconversion, researchers report.

“The significant improvements in safety practices and the implementation of antiretroviral therapy should be considered major victories for science, public health, and infection control,” Dr. Francesco M. Egro from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) in Pennsylvania told Reuters Health by email.

Still, he cautioned, “physicians and other healthcare workers need to maintain the rigorous practices developed so far and strive to identify new ways to create a safer environment…

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  CDC

After a needlestick or sharps exposure to HCV-positive blood, the risk of HCV infection is approximately 1.8%. If the healthcare worker does become infected, follow AASLD/IDSA guidelines (www.hcvguidelines.org) for management and treatment of hepatitis C.

  Clinical Consultation Center

The risk of transmission of HCV attributed to needlestick exposure is about 1 in 56 (1.8%) exposures when the source patient is HCV-infected. There is no post-exposure prophylaxis for HCV. Direct viral testing with HCV RNA PCR viral load at 6 weeks, before HCV Ab seroconversion has occurred, allows for early identification of transmission and subsequent referral for early evaluation and potential HCV treatment.

 Health care workers at heightened risk of hepatitis C

Compared to the general population, health workers had 60 percent greater odds of getting hepatitis C, and those who worked directly with blood had almost triple the risk, according to the analysis in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Articles of Interest

Hepatitis C Virus Still Unacceptably High Risk for Healthcare Workers

With workplace controls for bloodborne pathogens having been solidly in place in healthcare settings for decades, a new study reveals that we may need to drastically improve our focus in order to protect healthcare workers from ongoing exposures to viruses like hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Seroconversion rates among health care workers exposed to hepatitis C virus–contaminated body fluids: The University of Pittsburgh 13-year experience

The HCV seroconversion rate was 0.1% (n = 2) because of blood exposure secondary to percutaneous injuries. This study provides the largest and most recent cohort from a major U.S. academic medical center. The seroconversion rates among HCP exposed to HCV-contaminated body fluids was found to be lower than most of the data found in the literature.