Abstract
Objective: To determine the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies in a group of dental health care workers (DHCW).
Design: Retrospective cross sectional study.
Setting: A UK dental hospital.
Subjects and Methods: The sera of 167 unselected DHCW were tested for the presence of IgG antibodies to HCV using two, third-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). HCV viremia was determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis.
Results: Two (1.2%) of the serum samples were found to be anti-HCV positive; one was also viremic. The two antibody-positive subjects were a qualified dental nurse and a student dental nurse, both females, without any known risk factor for HCV acquisition. No dentist was HCV seropositive.
Conclusions: Since the prevalence of HCV infection in the UK general population varies between 0.08% and 0.55%, these results suggest that DHCW, and auxiliary staff in particularly, may have a slightly increased risk of HCV infection
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Lodi, G., Porter, S., Teo, C. et al. Prevalence of HCV infection in health care workers of a UK dental hospital. Br Dent J 183, 329–332 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.4809488
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.4809488
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