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World J Hepatol. Feb 18, 2016; 8(5): 273-281
Published online Feb 18, 2016. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v8.i5.273
Hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infection in healthcare workers
Nicola Coppola, Stefania De Pascalis, Lorenzo Onorato, Federica Calò, Caterina Sagnelli, Evangelista Sagnelli
Nicola Coppola, Stefania De Pascalis, Lorenzo Onorato, Federica Calò, Evangelista Sagnelli, Department of Mental Health and Public Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Second University of Naples, 80131 Naples, Italy
Caterina Sagnelli, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Surgery “F. Magrassi e A. Lanzara”, Second University of Naples, 80131 Naples, Italy
Author contributions: Coppola N, De Pascalis S, Onorato L, Calò F, Sagnelli C and Sagnelli E were based on: (1) substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and (3) final approval of the version to be published.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors of the manuscript declare that they have no conflict of interest in connection with this paper.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Nicola Coppola, Department of Mental Health and Public Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Second University of Naples, Via: L. Armanni 5, 80131 Naples, Italy. nicola.coppola@unina2.it
Telephone: +39-081-5666719 Fax: +39-081-5666013
Received: July 26, 2015
Peer-review started: July 27, 2015
First decision: September 30, 2015
Revised: October 25, 2015
Accepted: January 8, 2016
Article in press: January 11, 2016
Published online: February 18, 2016
Processing time: 204 Days and 10.7 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Preventing the transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus infection from source patients to healthcare workers is of vital importance in all healthcare settings worldwide, since these workers are exposed daily to these infections over a period of almost four decades. Needle pricks with contaminated needles, cuts from sharp instruments and blood splashes to the conjunctiva are the most frequent causes of exposure, injuries largely preventable by taking the standard universal precautions. HBV vaccination of anti-HBs-negative healthcare workers is recommended in all countries, but numerous healthcare workers remain exposed to infection because they have eluded HBV vaccination.