The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued updated recommendations for the management of chronic hepatitis B in healthcare providers and students.

"Chronic HBV infection in itself should not preclude the practice or study of medicine, surgery, dentistry or allied health professions," the authors wrote.

The CDC furthermore discourages any restrictions applying to chronically HBV-infected healthcare providers and students, including: prenotification of patients of the HBV-infection status of their caregiver; mandatory antiviral therapy with no other option such as maintenance of low viral load without therapy; and forced change of practice, arbitrary exclusion from exposure-prone procedures or any other restriction that essentially prohibits the healthcare provider from practice or the student from study.

The guidelines include recommendations for hepatitis B vaccination and screening. The authors state that oversight from an expert review panel is not necessary for providers and students who do not perform exposure-prone procedures but who practice noninvasive or minimally invasive procedures.

Providers who perform exposure-prone procedures, as defined in the recommendations, should be subject to review from an expert panel, the CDC authors wrote. They should be allowed to conduct such procedures if a low or undetectable HBV viral load is documented by regular testing at least every six months.

"Hospitals, medical and dental schools and other institutions should have written policies and procedures for the identification and management of HBV-infected healthcare providers, students and school applicants," the authors wrote. "These policies should include the ability to identify and convene an expert review panel [that is] aware of these and other relevant guidelines and recommendations before considering the management of HBV-infected providers performing exposure-prone procedures."

To read the full set of recommendations, visit http://1.usa.gov/MXSqjK.