Fingerstick devices are widely used for capillary-blood sampling for glucose monitoring in patients with diabetes. In 1996, outbreaks of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection occurred among patients with diabetes in an Ohio nursing home and in a New York City hospital. In response to these outbreaks, nursing-home and hospital personnel, state and local public health officials, and CDC conducted epidemiologic investigations. This report summarizes the investigations, which suggest that, in both outbreaks, HBV transmission was associated with use of spring-loaded fingerstick devices on multiple patients.
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A 1997 study studied this question.