Two cases of accidental transmission of hepatitis C to medical staff.
Two medical doctors (a 38-year-old male and a 25-year-old female) were admitted to our department with jaundice. They had injured themselves with, respectively, a scalpel and a needle contaminated with anti-hepatitis C virus antibody-positive blood, at 2 and 1.5 months, respectively, prior to admission. They were both suffering from clinically typical acute hepatitis. The polymerase chain reaction showed that hepatitis C RNA and anti-hepatitis C virus antibody were transiently positive in the male doctor, while serum transaminase levels were transiently abnormal. In the female doctor, hepatitis C RNA was initially negative, but became strongly positive, and abnormal serum transaminase levels persisted. Interferon therapy resulted in the hepatitis C RNA's becoming negative again, and the transaminase levels returned to normal. The clinical and other findings strongly suggested that in both patients hepatitis C developed as a result of the respective in-hospital accidents.
Tsude
K
K
Third Department of Internal Medicine, Kumamoto University Medical School, Japan.
Fujiyama
S
S
Sato
S
S
Kawano
S
S
Taura
Y
Y
Yoshida
K
K
Sato
T
T
D000062:Accidents, Occupational; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005383:Finger Injuries / Q000150:complications; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital; D016602:Needlestick Injuries / Q000150:complications; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D014950:Wounds, Penetrating / Q000382:microbiology