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The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in hemodialysis patients is notably greater than in the general population. Two new reports now document HCV transmission occurring within hemodialysis units.
Aho-Glélé and colleagues performed a molecular and epidemiological investigation after recognition of a new seroconversion to positive HCV antibody status in one patient at a French hemodialysis center. The patient had no other apparent HCV risk factors. Initial molecular analysis found that the patient had a genotype 5a virus, as did two other patients at the center. Sequencing of the HCV NS5b nucleotide sequence and of the hypervariable region-1 (HVR-1) showed that the newly infected patient's virus was closely related to that of on…