What can be done to prevent the transmission of hepatitis C?
There is currently no vaccine or immunoglobulin (IG) to protect against HCV transmission. Several studies evaluating the response to passive immunoglobulin found that high anti-HCV titer IG did not prevent transmission. This makes sense given that the rapid mutation rate of HCV allows the virus to escape from any protective antibody that may form during infection. Postexposure treatment with interferon, with or without ribavirin, is also confusing and controversial. At present, however, there is no recommendation for the use of antiviral therapy following needlestick exposure to an HCV-positive source. What should I do if I’m exposed to HCV positive blood? Currently, the best recommendation is to carefully monitor for laboratory abnormalities, signs and symptoms of acute hepatitis C infection. Acute hepatitis C is a difficult disease to study. This is due to the declining incidence of acute hepatitis C and the fact that most patients are not initially symptomatic. Given these limitatio
