Original Article

Hepatitis C Infection and the Risk of Bacteremia in Hemodialysis Patients with Tunneled Vascular Access Catheters

Background:The major complication of tunneled vascular catheters in dialysis patients is infection. In preliminary work, an association was noted between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and bacteremia in these patients. On this basis, we theorized that HCV infection may be associated with bacteremia in dialysis patients with tunneled catheters.Methods:We conducted…