Abstract
Viral infection through needlestick accidents is a serious problem among health care workers. We evaluated the actual transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection through needlestick accidents using second-generation HCV antibody and HCV-RNA tests. Of 92 needlestick accidents involving patients with non-A, non-B (NANB) hepatitis, acute hepatitis NANB developed in three recipients. All three index donors were positive for HCV-RNA. Two of the three recipients became HCV-RNA positive and seroconverted to anti-HCV. The genotype of HCV-RNA in each donor-recipient pair was identical. One of the two pairs showed a high homology of HCV-RNA nucleotide sequences. When the donor patients were positive for anti-HCV-2 or HCV-RNA, the incidence of HCV infection after needlestick accident was 1.2% or 1.4%, respectively. Though this transmission rate is not necessarily high, needlestick accident is an apparent HCV transmission route, and appropriate precautions in hospital employees and careful follow-up of such accidents are needed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Kiyosawa K, Gibo G, Sodeyama T, Furuta K, Imai H, Yoda H, Koike Y, Yoshizawa K, Furuta S (1987) Possible infectious causes in 651 patients with acute viral hepatitis during a 10-year period (1976–1985). Liver 7: 163–168
Herron W, Peterson E, Taylor JW (1978) Non-A, non-B hepatitis infection transmitted via a needle. MMWR 28: 157–158
Ahtone J, Francis D, Bradley D, Maynard J (1980) Non-A, non- B hepatitis in a nurse after percutaneous needle exposure. Lancet 1: 1142
Kuo G, Choo QL, Alter HJ, Redeker AG, Girnyck GL, Purcell RH, Miyamura T, Dienstag JL, Alter MJ, Stevens CE, Tegtmeier GE, Bonino F, Colombo M, Lee W-S, Kuo C, Berger K, Shuster JR, Overby LR, Bradley DW, Houghton M (1989) An assay for circulating antibodies to a major etiologic virus of human non-A, non-B hepatitis. Science 244: 362–364
Vaglia A, Nicolin R, Puro V, Ippolito G, Bettini C, DeLalla F (1990) Needlestick hepatitis C virus seroconversion in a surgeon. Lancet 336: 1315–1316
Schlipkoter U, Roggendorf M, Cholmakow K, Weise A, Deinhardt F (1990) Transmission of hepatitis C virus ( HCV) from a haemodialysis patient to a medical staff member. Scand J Infect Dis 22: 757–758
Mitsui T, Iwano K, Masuko K, Yamazaki C, Okamoto H, Tsuda F, Tanaka T, Mishiro S (1992) Hepatitis C virus infection in medical personnel after needlestick accident. Hepatology 16: 1190–1114
Kiyosawa K, Sodeyama T, Tanaka E, Nakano Y, Furuta S, Nishioka K, Purcell RH, Alter HJ (1991) Hepatitis C in hospital employees with needlestick injuries. Ann Intern Med 115: 367–369
Sodeyama T, Kiyosawa K, Urushihara A, Matsumoto A, Tanaka E, Furuta S, Akahane Y (1993) Detection of hepatitis C virus markers and hepatitis C virus genomic-RNA after needlestick accidents. Arch Intern Med 153: 1565–1572
Okamoto H, Okada S, Sugiyama Y, Tanaka T, Sugai Y, Akahane Y, Machida A, Mishiro S, Yoshizawa H, Miyakawa Y, Mayumi M (1990) Detection of hepatitis C virus RNA by a two-stage polymerase chain reaction with two pairs of primers deduced from 5′-noncoding region. Jpn J Exp Med 60: 215–222
Gilliand G, Perrin S, Blanchard K, Bunn HF (1990) Analysis of cytokine mRNA and DNA: Detection and quantitation by com¬petitive polymerase chain reaction. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 87: 2725–2729
Okamoto H, Sugiyama Y, Okada S, Kurai K, Akahane Y, Sugai Y, Tanaka T, Satoh K, Tsuda F, Miyakawa Y, Mayumi M (1992) Typing hepatitis C virus by polymerase chain reaction with type-specific primers: Application to clinical surveys and tracing infectious sources. J Gen Virol 73: 673–679
Hernandez ME, Bruguera M, Puyuelo T, Barrera JM, Sanchez Tapias JM, Rodés J (1992) Risk of needlestick injuries in the transmission of hepatitis C virus in hospital personnel J. Hepatol 16: 56–58
Francavilla E, Rinaldi R, Cattelan AM, Vicariotto M, Bortolotti F, Cadrobbi P (1992) Low prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus in hospital employees. Infection 20: 295
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1994 Springer-Verlag Tokyo
About this paper
Cite this paper
Sodeyama, T. et al. (1994). Transmission of Hepatitis C Virus Through Needlestick Accidents in Health Care Workers. In: Nishioka, K., Suzuki, H., Mishiro, S., Oda, T. (eds) Viral Hepatitis and Liver Disease. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-68255-4_117
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-68255-4_117
Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo
Print ISBN: 978-4-431-68257-8
Online ISBN: 978-4-431-68255-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive