Hepatitis type A in an oral surgeon: a prospective study of contacts.
No acute cases of clinical or anicteric hepatitis were in observed in 75% of 161 patients who had been exposed to hepatitis A by an oral surgeon during the contagious period. Three cases of liver dysfunction of indeterminate cause did occur, although at least two could be attributed to multiple abuses of drugs 3-5 and not to exposure to hepatitis. The fact that hepatitis A did not spread in this instance suggests that oral surgeons who are ill with acute hepatitis A do not necessarily transmit the disease to their patients. Epidemiologic investigations of similar situations will undoubtedly augment this preliminary data.
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000097:blood / Q000635:transmission*; D006507:Hepatovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013515:Surgery, Oral