Lack of seroconversion in a health care worker after polymerase chain reaction-documented acute hepatitis C resulting from a needlestick injury

We present a case of documented acute hepatitis C that occurred in a health care worker who sustained a needlestick injury while caring for an individ ual who was infected with both hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodefi ciency virus (HIV). According to the findings of third-generation serologic al assays performed during a follow-up of >1 year, the health care worker, who was treated with interferon-alpha (during weeks 2-6) and ribavirin (dur ing weeks 5-9), did not develop antibodies against HCV, in spite of documen tation of an HCV-specific T cell response.