Evidence of hepatitis C virus-specific interferon gamma-positive T cells in health care workers in an infectious disease department

A clinically silent persistent exposure to HCV, through some as-yet undetermined mechanism, may induce a virus-specific IFN-γ-producing CD8+ T-cell response in healthy aviremic HCWs. This finding suggests that possible unapparent parenteral routes may stimulate host defenses with no evidence of hepatitis.