Abstract
The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in hemodialysis and CAPD patients and health-care workers was examined with an enzyme immunoassay (Ortho Diagnostic Systems). The anti-HCV positive rate was 13.6% (147/1, 080). The frequency increased with the duration of hemodialysis therapy, regardless of the presence or absence of blood transfusion. An accumulation of hemodialysis patients with anti-HCV was seen in a few beds of several units. The frequency of HCV seropositivity of health-care workers was 1.4% (2/138) while that of CAPD patients was 2.4% (2/85). These findings indicate that there may be another mode of transmission of HCV, in addition to blood transfusion. The infection route seems to be from patient to patient, and the chance of infection seems to relate to transmission of HCV positive blood by the use of contaminated instruments or by the unclean manipulation. Consequently, strict adherence to HBV guidelines must be maintained in order to prevent HCV infection.
