Transmission of hepatitis C virus from a patient to an anesthesiology assistant to five patients.

Prevention and treatment of infections with hepatitis C virus (HCV) remain a major chalenge1. The main source of HCV infection in developed countries was formerly transfusion of contaminated blood and blood products but is now injection-drug use2-4. In general, a potential risk factor can established for about 90 percent of all cases of HCV infection3. One way of contracting HCV may be transmission from infected medical personnel to susceptible patients during medical care. Provider-to-patient transmission of HCV is rare, and in most cases HCV-positive surgens are the probable source5-7. We studied an outbreak of HCV in a municipal hospital. Our findings suggest that an anesthesiology assistant contracted HCV from a chronically infected patient and subsequently transmitted the virus to five to five other patients.