[Prevalence of antibody to hepatitis C virus in hospital personnel].
Prevalence of antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) has been widely investigated in many categories; however no data are available on hospital personnel. The aim of our study was to investigate whether hospital personnel are at risk for HCV infection.


METHODS
sera collected during a prospective study on HBV infection in hospital workers done in our institution in 1985 were analyzed for the ELISA test for anti-HCV from Ortho Diagnostic System. Sera were stored at -20 degrees C and were never defrosted until tested. A population of a consecutive series of healthy volunteer blood donors was used as a control group.


RESULTS
the anti-HCV prevalence was higher in hospital personnel, than in blood donors (4.5 versus 1.1, p less than 0.001, Odds Ratio 4.5, Confidence Limits 2.9-7.2).


CONCLUSIONS
although anti-HCV is not an "ideal" test for epidemiological purposes, our study suggests that hospital personnel is at high risk for HCV infection.
De Luca
M
M
Servizio di Fisiopatologia Epatica, Ospedale Cardarelli, Napoli.
Ascione
A
A
Canestrini
C
C
Di Costanzo
G G
GG
Galeota Lanza
A
A
Guardascione
M A
MA
Gallo
M L
ML
Parisio Perrotti
G
G
Samaritani
C M
CM
Utech
W
W
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001782:Blood Donors; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000209:etiology; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010564:Personnel, Hospital; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors
D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies
Prevalenza dell'anticorpo contro il virus dell'epatite C nel personale ospedaliero.