HCV TRANSMISSION IN HEALTH CARE SETTING

Abstract

An exposure that might place CHW at risk for HCV infection is defined as a percutaneous injury (e.g. a needle stick or cut with a sharp or contact with mucus membrane or non-intact skin or other body fluids that are potentially in-fectious) Feces, nasal secretions, saliva, sputum, sweat, tears, urine, vomitus, are not considered potentially infec-tious unless they contain blood. Avoiding occupational blood exposures is the primary way to prevent transmission of HCV in health care settings. HCV is not transmitted efficiently through occupational exposures to blood. The average incidence of anti HCV seroconversion after accidental percutaneous exposure from an HCV positive source is 1.8% (Range 0% -7%) Transmission occurred only from hollow –bore needle, compared with other sharps. Data are limited on survival of HCV in the environment. In contrast to the HBV the epidemiologic data for HCV suggest that environmental contamination with blood containing HCV is not a significant risk for transmission in the health care settings with the possible exception of the hemodialysis setting where HCV transmission related to environ-mental contamination and poor injection control practices have been implicated. The risk for transmission from ex-posure to fluids or tissues other than HCV infected blood also has not been quantified but is expected to be low. Data upon which to base a recommendation for therapy of acute infection are insufficient because no data exist re-garding the effect of treating patients with acute infection who have no evidence of infection.