Pseudo-outbreak of hepatitis B virus infection associated with contamination of a semiautomatic cap remover.
A pseudo-outbreak of hepatitis B virus caused by cross-contamination from a semiautomatic cap remover for blood collection tubes is reported. The source of the outbreak was elucidated by using basic epidemiological methods. Laboratories should always be critical about their results in order to identify contamination problems.
Diederen
Bram M W
BM
Laboratory of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, St Elisabeth Hospital, Tilburg, The Netherlands. b.diederen@elisabeth.nl
Verhulst
Carlo
C
van't Veen
Annemarie
A
van Keulen
Peter H J
PH
Kluytmans
Jan A J W
JA
D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans
D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens