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July 15, 2002

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Cases of Hepatitis B Linked to Infected Surgeon"

Reuters Health Information Services (www.reutershealth.com) (07/12/02); McCook, Alison

Researchers from the Bosch Medicentrum in the Netherlands found that a surgeon who was infected with hepatitis B may have infected at least 28 of his patients.  More than 1,500 patients who the surgeon treated between June 1995 and February 1999 were tested, and the researchers determined that the doctor had passed the virus on to eight patients, had likely infected two others, and may have infected 18 more.  The surgeon in question had been vaccinated for hepatitis B in 1985, but he apparently did not respond to the immunization and was routinely exposed to the blood of patients while working under primitive conditions in Africa.  Reviewing the study for Reuters Health, Dr. Donald Fry of the University of New Mexico suggested that healthcare workers be vaccinated and their response to the vaccine documented, with revaccination, if necessary, and strict attention to infection control measures also key factors.

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