title: Hepatitis G virus exposure in dialysis staff.
abstract: Hepatitis G virus (HGV) is a blood-borne virus. Some present data demonstrate an occupational risk of HGV infection in medical staff of dialysis units. The aim of this investigation was to assess the prevalence of HGV exposure in dialysis staff. This study was performed in a main dialysis unit in Iran. In 27 dialysis staff, HGV exposure was detected serologically by the presence of anti HGV envelope protein E2 (anti-E2) by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and compared with 77 hemodialysis (HD) and 13 continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients. All of them were also screened for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs), and hepatitis C antibody (anti-HCV). A low prevalence of HGV exposure was found in the dialysis staff (0%), which nearly corresponded to the prevalence of the dialysis patients (HD 3.89%, CAPD 0%). The prevalence of anti-HCV and anti-HBs in staff was 37.03% and 33.33%, respectively, which was higher than HGV anti-E2. The prevalence of HGV exposure was low in dialysis staff in our study, and was near to the prevalence of HGV exposure in dialysis patients. Therefore, it can be concluded that the occupational risk for HGV exposure in our investigation was minimal.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Department, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eslamifar
authors.forename: Rasool
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hamkar
authors.forename: Amitis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ramezani
authors.forename: Farrokhlagha
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ahmadi
authors.forename: Latif
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gachkar
authors.forename: Somayeh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jalilvand
authors.forename: Ladan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Adibi
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khameneh
authors.forename: Shahnaz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Atabak
authors.forename: Ramin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ghadimi
authors.forename: Arezoo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aghakhani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D029407:GB virus C / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006282:Health Personnel; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D010531:Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C107619:glycoprotein E2, GB virus C