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World J Gastroenterol. Dec 14, 2014; 20(46): 17265-17278
Published online Dec 14, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i46.17265
Health care-associated hepatitis C virus infection
Bruno Pozzetto, Meriam Memmi, Olivier Garraud, Xavier Roblin, Philippe Berthelot
Bruno Pozzetto, Meriam Memmi, Olivier Garraud, Xavier Roblin, Philippe Berthelot, Groupe Immunité des Muqueuses et Agents Pathogènes (GIMAP EA3064), Faculty of Medecine of Saint-Etienne, University of Lyon, 42023 Saint-Etienne, France
Bruno Pozzetto, Department of Infectious Agents and Hygiene, University-Hospital of Saint-Etienne, 42055 Saint-Etienne, France
Olivier Garraud, Institut National de la Transfusion Sanguine, 75015 Paris, France
Xavier Roblin, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University-Hospital of Saint-Etienne, 42055 Saint-Etienne, France
Philippe Berthelot, Department of Infectious Diseases and Hygiene, University-Hospital of Saint-Etienne, 42055 Saint-Etienne, France
Author contributions: Pozzetto B planned the review article and wrote the manuscript; Memmi M updated the bibliography and contributed to the writing of the manuscript; Garraud O managed the part related to blood products; Roblin X corrected the manuscript from the hepatologic and endoscopic point of view; Berthelot P gave ideas and councils in hygiene; All the co-authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Bruno Pozzetto, Professor, Department of Infectious Agents and Hygiene, University-Hospital of Saint-Etienne, CHU de Saint-Etienne, Cedex 02, 42055 Saint-Etienne, France. bruno.pozzetto@univ-st-etienne.fr
Telephone: +33-4-77828434 Fax: +33-4-77828460
Received: July 31, 2014
Revised: October 25, 2014
Accepted: November 18, 2014
Published online: December 14, 2014
Processing time: 139 Days and 17.2 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a blood-borne pathogen that has a worldwide distribution and infects millions of people. Care-associated HCV infections represented a huge part of hepatitis C burden in the past via contaminated blood and unsafe injections and continue to be a serious problem of public health. The present review proposes a panorama of health care-associated HCV infections via the three mode of contamination that have been identified: (1) infected patient to non-infected patient; (2) infected patient to non-infected health care worker; and (3) infected HCW to non-infected patient.