Nosocomial acquisition of the hepatitis C virus

We would like to thank Deterding et al. for their comments to our recently published article [1]. We essentially agree with their observations. As they state, it is possible that the high proportion of patients who acquired HCV in a nosocomial setting in our study is partially explained for by the fact that these patients were referred to a tertiary hospital. However, other possible explanations are the slightly higher prevalence of chronic HCV infection in Spain, as compared to Germany, and the potential differences in the health care systems of both countries [2].