SIMULTANEOUS HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS AND HEPATITIS-C INFECTION FOLLOWING A NEEDLESTICK INJURY

Needlestick injuries to health professionals at the Hospital del Mar, Barcelona since 1987 have been prospectively studied; a total of 296 s uch accidents in 286 subjects have been registered. We report the firs t case to our knowledge of simultaneous human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV) and hepatitis C (HCV) infection in a nurse who suffered a needles tick injury after a blood sampling. Forty-four days after the accident she had symptoms and laboratory findings of acute hepatitis. Subseque nt laboratory tests showed elevation in the aminotransferases and anti bodies against HIV. The seroconversion to HCV was not detected until 1 09 days after the injury. The precise sequence of clinical and biologi cal events of this case of simultaneous HIV and HCV infection is repor ted.