[Prevention of HCV infection in the hemodialysis setting]

The discovery of hepatitis C viruses in the 1990s started a new era in hemodialysis. Hepatotropic RNA viruses are able to infect the immune cell populations of the host and show high viral persistence and chronicity rates. Although, like the HIV viruses, they can change inside the host, they are less resistant than hepatitis B viruses both to environmental conditions and common disinfection tools. The clinically subtle course of chronic and acute infections has pivotal importance in the spread of HCV and can explain its prevalence rates of 2-3% in the general population and about 9% in hemodialysis patients. Among the risk factors for transmission, the nosocomial risk is of primary importance in the hemodialysis setting but it is present in every health-care environment. Though low, also the occupational risk is important, particularly for nurses, in whom accidental pricks are responsible for a mean incidence of HCV infection of 1.8%. In the dialysis setting both these risk factors are essentially imputable to sanitary malpractice. In the last 30 years, the most important agencies for the prevention of infection have developed a set of "special" precautions for particular settings such as hemodialysis. In this review we report and recommend these precautions because their regular adoption is fundamental and a sufficient requisite to prevent the spread of hematogenous infections, including HCV.