MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Chong-Gee Teo, MD, PhD Chief, Laboratory Branch Division of Viral Hepatitis CDC Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Teo: Hepatitis C outbreaks in the course of providing healthcare continue to occur. Some happen when hepatitis C virus (HCV) is transmitted to patients following breakdowns in safe injection and infection control practices, and mishaps during surgery. Another route of provider – to patient HCV transmission is diversion, self-injection and substitution of opioids intended for anesthetic use (collectively referred to as “tampering”). A patient acquires infection when an HCV-infected provider, who is an injecting drug user, self-injects from a syringe prefilled with opioid anesthetic, fills the syringe with a volume substitute (e.g., saline or water), and then administers the adulterated preparation to the patient. The study consisted of two parts: 1) to quantify the extent that anesthetic opioid tampering contributes to hepatitis C outbreaks by analyzing healthcare-associated outbreaks occurring between 1990 and 2012 in developed countries. 2) to estimate the probabilities of provider-to-patient transmission reflecting the “real-world” setting in which a patient presents for health care, unaware of risks posed by procedures conducted by a provider who may or may not be an injecting drug user or HCV infected. (more…)