B viral hepatitis as a risk factor for clinical laboratory personnel.

A study was carried out on the risk of contamination with viral hepatitis B for the personnel of the clinical laboratories who handle blood samples with HB Ag and HB Ac, collected from the patients. Of the total 1945 blood samples collected from 639 adult patients, 74 were serologically positive (3.8%) of which 39 HB Ag carriers (2%) and 35 HB Ac carriers (1.8%). Although these proportions are close to those found in the normal population the risk of contamination of the laboratory personnel is greater owing to the direct contact with the pathologic product and the impossibility of recognizing the HB Ag and Ac positive samples before testing. The risk may be lowered by strict compliance with the general rules of hygiene, by avoiding especially any microtraumas of the hands, by automatic pipetting of the sera and reagents and the use of sterilized materials (particularly in haematologic and biochemical laboratories.