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"We stand behind our science," said Deblina Datta, MD, of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention's Hepatitis Branch.
Datta defended attacks today against the CDC's recent study that declares
hepatitis C levels among Philadelphia firefighters normal and states that
rescue and health care workers are at no higher risk of acquiring hepatitis
C than the general population.
Datta refuted the argument of Local 22 officials that the CDC study doesn't
take into account rescue workers' frequent exposure to infected blood.
"The whole point of the article is that it does take into account that they
are exposed to blood all the time. That's why the study was done," Datta
said.
"The message we want [Philadelphia firefighters] to have is, we recognize
they are exposed to blood on the job - if you read our article we say that -
and because of these exposures some of them may be getting infected with
hepatitis C. But the overall risk is low. I think this is good news for most
of the firefighters," Datta said.
Datta maintained that contact of infected blood with rescuers' mucous
membranes - including the eyes and mouth - rarely causes infection. She didn
't have a rate available for this type of transmission, but said it would be
lower than the 1.8 percent rate of transmissions resulting from needle
sticks that involve infected blood.
On the eve of the "Hepatitis C Awareness March" in Philadelphia, Local 22
officials also continue to argue against the CDC's estimate of a 3 percent
overall infection rate at the fire department, saying, "the CDC is now
making statements and assertions without knowing the exact number of Local
22's Firefighters and Paramedics that are infected with Hepatitis C."
About half of the department's members have been tested, and that group
shows a 6.8 percent rate of infection, according to Stephen Hess, public
relations director of Local 22. This number is heavily based on a study done
by the Chicago-based company Home Access Health.
When the CDC evaluated that study however, they dismissed part of the
results and came up with the lower estimate for the department's overall
infection rate. "We feel that the [3 percent] estimate is accurate," Datta
responded."There's nothing magical or secretive about it."
Although the CDC didn't contact the Philadelphia Fire Department or do any
of their own testing on Philadelphia firefighters, the data they received
from Home Access Health was enough to make an estimate, Datta said.
Datta also answered the attack that the CDC is following a political agenda.
"We have a scientific agenda, which is to present the best available
science," she said."I think our study was based on scientific findings and
I think we presented our findings."
Hess' suggestion that the CDC come in and do their own, complete study on
the Philadelphia fire department is not going to go anywhere, according to
Douglas Trout, MD, of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health (NIOSH), a division of the CDC.
"Really at this point there are no plans from NIOSH's perspective to perform
any further study [in Philadelphia]," Trout said.
"The environment in Philadelphia makes it a very difficult place to perform
a survey and get good participation. There are a lot of concerns about
issues such as confidentiality that make us all believe participation would
not be adequate to answer questions any further," Trout said.
However, Trout said NIOSH is interested in hepatitis C among firefighters,
and plans to work on the issue with other groups. They recently received a
request from the International Association of Fire Fighters in Washington
DC, asking for a study of the hepatitis C rate among firefighters there, and
"We're looking into the feasibility of doing that," Trout said.
"I think everyone would agree the information available is limited in a
number of ways," and that it could be more thorough, Trout said.
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