Seroprevalence of hepatitis C infection among health care personnel in Beirut, Lebanon

Background: Health care workers are at risk of contracting hepatitis C viru s (HCV) infection more than the general population, and chronic HCV infecti on may be asymptomatic. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determi ne the seroprevalence of HCV among health care workers at St Georges-Orthod ox Hospital, the first study done for a major teaching hospital in Lebanon. Methods: Health care personnel at St Georges-Orthodox Hospital, Beirut, wer e offered anonymous testing for anti-HCV antibody. Seroprevalence rates of health care personnel were compared with the rates of blood donors screened during the same year. Results: Of the 502 persons screened, 13 (2.60%) initially tested either po sitive or doubtful-positive by the SM-HCV rapid test; 2 (0.4%) mere confirm ed positive by 2 commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits and reve rse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. This prevalence rate was compa rable with the rate obtained for blood donors (n = 600) during the same per iod. Conclusion: The seroprevalence of HCV infection among health care workers s t St Georges-Orthodox Hospital was similar to the rate observed in local bl ood donors, which suggests that the occupational risk of HCV infection was low.