Summary
A screening of 615 mentally retarded residents in a Finnish institution revealed 22 HBsAg-positive asymptomatic carriers in 1972. Thirteen of them were placed in a special ward and followed up for 12 years. Only one patient had hepatitis eight years later. During the years all 52 staff members of the ward and the laboratory had been HBsAg-negative, but one laboratory nurse and two ward nurses showed antibody production. The seroconversion rate was one per 33 person-years among the staff. The results suggest that the risk of transmitting hepatitis B still exists, even in special wards in such institutions, and isolation of the carriers alone cannot guarantee full protection for hepatitis B infections.
Zusammenfassung
Beim Screening von 615 Insassen einer Anstalt für geistig Retardierte in Finnland fanden sich im Jahr 1972 22 asymptomatische, HBsAg-positive Hepatitis B-Virus-Träger. Von diesen wurden 13 auf einer eigenen Station untergebracht und 12 Jahre lang überwacht. Nach acht Jahren war nur bei einer dieser Personen eine Hepatitis aufgetreten. Von den 52 Mitgliedern des Pflege- und Laborpersonals blieben alle bis auf eine Laborantin und zwei Stationsschwestern, die Antikörper bildeten, HBsAg-negativ. Die Serokonversionsrate betrug 1 auf 33 Patientenjahre. Folglich besteht in solchen Institutionen auch auf Spezialstationen das Risiko der Hepatitis B-Virus-Übertragung, und die Isolation der Carrier reicht für einen sicheren Schutz vor Hepatitis B-Virus-Infektion alleine nicht aus.
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Eskola, J., Wilska, M., Autio, S. et al. Risk of hepatitis B in a ward for mentally retarded HBsAg carriers. Infection 14, 170–172 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01645257
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01645257