[Prevalence of hepatitis C virus antibodies in hospital personnel and the general population]

Abstract

The recent cloning of the genome of a parenterally transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis virus, designated the hepatitis C virus (HCV), has been used for the development of an enzyme immunoassay for the detection of antibodies against HCV (anti-HCV). We have employed this assay to evaluate the prevalence of HCV antibodies in hospital personnel and voluntary blood donors. Twelve of 1018 sera (1.2 percent) from health care workers were repeatedly reactive in the enzyme immunoassay for anti-HCV. Specificity testing with a modification of the enzyme immunoassay (additional wash cycle with 8 mol/l urea) and a recombinant immunoblot assay demonstrated HCV antibodies in only 6 of the 12 sera. Thus, the true prevalence of anti-HCV in hospital personnel was 0.6 percent. Nine of 1046 sera (0.9 percent) from blood donors were reactive in the enzyme immunoassay for anti-HCV. In none of the 9 sera the presence of HCV antibodies could be confirmed by additional testing with the urea wash modification or the recombinant immunoblot assay. The true prevalence of anti-HCV in blood donors thus appears to be lower than 0.1 percent. Our results indicate that the risk of HCV transmission in the hospital setting appears to be low, but is significantly higher than that of the general population.