Transmission of hepatitis C virus from a patient to an anesthesiology assistant to five patients

Prevention and treatment of infections with hepatitis C virus (HCV) remain a major chalenge¹. The main source of HCV infection in developed countries was formerly transfusion of contaminated blood and blood products but is now injection-drug use^2-4. In general, a potential risk factor can established for about 90 percent of all cases of HCV infection³. One way of contracting HCV may be transmission from infected medical personnel to susceptible patients during medical care. Provider-to-patient transmission of HCV is rare, and in most cases HCV-positive surgens are the probable source^5-7. We studied an outbreak of HCV in a municipal hospital. Our findings suggest that an anesthesiology assistant contracted HCV from a chronically infected patient and subsequently transmitted the virus to five to five other patients.