Hepatitis B, hemodialysis unit - Japan (Kyoto)

International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Source: The Japan Times online [edited]
< http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060921b2.html>


Eight patients receiving dialysis treatment at Rakuwakai Otowa
Hospital in Kyoto contracted hepatitis B in August [2006], causing 5
of them to be hospitalized, hospital officials said on Wed 20 Sep
2006. The hospitalized patients are in stable condition and
recovering, the officials said.

The hospital and the Kyoto Municipal Government are treating the
cases as in-hospital infections. According to the hospital, a male
dialysis patient who was scheduled to have an operation was given a
blood test in late August and found infected with the virus. Four
other men and three women were found infected during regular checkups
that were conducted around the same time on about 300 dialysis
patients there. All eight are in their 50s to 70s.

The hospital alerted the city on 11 Sep 2006 and disinfected its
equipment after concluding the 8 were likely infected around the same
time. Evaluations of their liver functions had been normal until the
end of July, it said.

Hepatitis B virus infection is a hazard associated with any medical
procedure involving transfusion of blood. With advances in medical
care, the risk of infection should be declining due to increasing
rigor of donor selection and improvements in the screening of blood
products. In addition, the wider use of hepatitis B vaccine in the
populations of countries with comprehensive medical care should also
be contributing to a decline in risk. However, this potentially
decreasing risk may be obscured by the increasing use of hemodialysis
and similar procedures to treat chronic renal diseases in aging
populations.