An Outbreak of Nonparenterally Transmitted Hepatitis B

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Abstract
Between Sept 14, 1968, and May 1, 1969, twelve employees of the Children's Hospital Medical Center (CHMC), Boston, contracted viral hepatitis, type B (hepatitis B). Ten had been contacts of an 11-year-old patient with aplastic anemia who had received multiple transfusions and who harbored the hepatitis-B antigen (HBAg). Serum from seven of the 12 ill employees was tested for HBAg; only one was positive, but in most instances serum was obtained late in the convalescent period or following recovery. Investigation showed that, because of an associated hemorrhagic diathesis, the 11-year-old patient was most likely the source of infection. This outbreak demonstrates how hepatitis B can be transmitted via a nonparenteral route and illustrates the occupational hazard to medical personnel involved in this seemingly innocuous and routine exposure.