Hepatitis B as a hazard in anaesthetic practice.

Hepatitis B is a hazard in anaesthetic practice because the virus is carried in the blood, and operative, investigative or obstetric procedures involve the shedding of blood. A list is given of classes of potential carrier, who should be tested for hepatitis B antigen (HBAg), and a procedure is outlined for minimizing the risk to staff engaged on surgical operations on hepatitis carriers. The carrier state in a patient is not regarded as a contraindication to any necessary operation, nor, in a doctor, to the practice of medicine.