Nevertheless, there are only two cases of confirmed HCV transmission from healthcare worker to patient in the U.S. and two others in other countries. SHEA guidelines for HBV infected healthcare workers restricts those with positive HBeAg if they are epidemiologically linked to transmissions in the healthcare setting. It was also noted that patients who are exposed to the blood of healthcare workers with any of these bloodborne pathogens should be evaluated in a fashion analogous to that used for healthcare workers. One issue that was not discussed concerns confidentiality. A major difference between healthcare worker exposure and patient exposure is that the healthcare worker is ethically obliged to preserve confidentiality of the patient, but the same rules do not apply to the patient who is informed of the status of an infected healthcare worker.
Confirmation requires the demonstration of seroconversion in the context of an exposure.
There have been no confirmed cases among surgeons. Virtually all confirmed cases involved exposure to blood or HIV viral cultures. There was also a substantial risk if the source had late stage HIV as indicated by death within two months of the injury. To no one's surprise, all of these factors indicate that the probability of transmission is based on the inoculum size and the depth of injury. Three such cases were known to involve AZT-resistant strains, which is anticipated to be a greater problem in the future.