Author information
1 University of Miami School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases, 1120 NW 14th Street, Miami, Florida, 33136.
2 Department of Nephrology, Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, Université Catholique de Louvain, B-1200, Brussels, Belgium.
3 Université de Paris, Département d'Hépatologie, Hôpital Cochin, APHP; INSERM U1223, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remains commoner in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) than the population at large1 . In the hemodialysis (HD) population HCV infection in part reflects acquisition of infection within dialysis units where its transmission can be effectively prevented by meticulous attention to body fluid precautions 2 . A series of studies have confirmed that HCV transmission on HD reflects lack of adherence to these precautions 3 . In contrast to the prevention of hepatitis B transmission in this setting, dedicated dialysis machines for HCV infected patients are not recommended4 . The likelihood of HCV acquisition while on HD is increased in units with a higher background prevalence of HCV infection so an infected HD patient also places others at risk.