PREVALENCE OF ANTIBODIES AGAINST HEPATITIS-C VIRUS-INFECTION AMONG HEALTH-CARE WORKERS IN STOCKHOLM

The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) markers was investigated amo ng health care staff with a high rate of exposure to blood or needle-s tick injuries. After screening sera in pools of 10 at a time and indiv idual tesing of all reactive pools, totally 6 of 880 (0.7%; 95% confid ence interval, 0.25-14.8%) were positive for anti-HCV, a figure of the same order as that found among Swedish first-time blood donors. Among the seropositives, all of five evaluable had been exposed to blood an d four of five to needle-stick injuries. Our data suggest that HCV, in addition to hepatitis B virus, may constitute an occupational hazard for health care workers in Stockholm, even though the risk appears to be low, and personal risk factors such as intravenous drug abuse or bl ood transfusion could not be ruled out as sources of the infection.