Hepatitis C Infections at a Dialysis Clinic Case Study Hepatitis C is a chronic

Question

           Hepatitis C Infections at a Dialysis Clinic Case Study

Hepatitis C is a chronic liver infection that can be either silent (with no noticeable symptoms) or debilitating. Either way, 80% of infected persons experience continuing liver destruction. Chronic hepatitis C infection is the leading cause of liver transplants in the United States. The virus that causes it is blood borne, and therefore patients who undergo frequent procedures involving transfer of blood are particularly susceptible to infection. Kidney dialysis patients belong to this group. In 2008, a for-profit hemodialysis facility in New York was shut down after nine of its patients were confirmed as having become infected with hepatitis C while undergoing hemodialysis treatments there between 2001 and 2008.

When the investigation was conducted in 2008, investigators found that 20 of the facility’s 162 patients had been documented with hepatitis C infection at the time they began their association with the clinic. All the current patients were then offered hepatitis C testing, to determine how many had acquired hepatitis C during the time they were receiving treatment at the clinic. They were considered positive if enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests showed the presence of antibodies to the hepatitis C virus.

Health officials did not test the workers at the hemodialysis facility for hepatitis C because they did not view them as likely sources of the nine new infections. Why not?

Why do you think patients were tested for antibody to the virus instead of for the presence of the virus itself?

Explanation / Answer

Please find the answers below:

Answer 1: According to the information, these workers have already underwent hemodialysis in which the whole blood of the body is replaced with fresh oxygenated blood after dialysis. This blood is already being checked for presence of deleterious pathogens including viruses. Hence, it is very unlikely that these workers might be infected with the virus.

Answer 2: The human body always produces antibodies when an infection takes place. However, it is important to note here that even under cases when the infection intensity is low and the pathogen cannot be empirically determined/diagnosed, the antibodies produced against it can be readily detected. Thus, it is a better method to always diagnose the presence of antibodies in the sample inspite of looking for the pathogen itself because presence of pathogen at low concentraitons can give a false negative result.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse H
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.