Study	Reason for exclusion
Agarwal 2009	Cohort study 2003 to 2006, room isolation, HCV seroconversion from 42% in 1995 to 1998 (without isolation) to 4% in 2003 to 2006 (with isolation)
Barril 2003	Cohort, multicentre study: 44 centres, room isolation, evaluate prevalence of hepatitis C and time, it divide its population in 4 quartiles according prevalence of hepatitis C, after isolation they observe decrease of seroconversion in all quartiles
Gallego 2006	Analytic study, comparing two periods of 1993 to 1995 in which isolation of machines for patients with hepatitis C is applied, and where are 2 seroconversions and second period 1996 to 2003 applied isolation room and staff, which do not show any seroconversion. Progressive decline observed prevalence of hepatitis C in its population 30.5% vs 6.8%
Garcia‐Valdecasas 1994	Analytic study, three rooms of dialysis: Room A: 27 patients and 6 HCV (+), Room B: 28 patients; 7 HCV (+), Room C: 25 patients, 14 with HCV (+); No isolation: 1990, 1991 to 1992 isolation of machine only in rooms A and B, isolation
Huang 1995	Prospective study, from April 1992, 32 patients negative for HCV, isolated machine and room, after 14.2 + 3 months, a patient seroconverted, apparently associated with blood transfusion, seroconversion rate 14.6% versus 3.1% prior to isolation (historical data)
Mohamed 2010	Prospective study was conducted on 36 seronegative HD patients. All patients were managed with strict application of infection control guidelines as well as isolation of HCV‐positive patients. After five years of follow‐up, They found that the incidence of HCV seroconversion was zero.
Ross 2009	Large prospective multicentre study was conducted. In the first and second rounds, 150 (5.2%) of 2909 and 114 (5.4%) of 2100 patients were anti‐HCV positive, respectively, and 4% of individuals were viraemic. 20% of these patients no nosocomial Hepatitis C transmission occurred during the observational period suggests that the lack of HCV seroconversions was not only attributable to the isolation of HCV‐infected patients but also to the strict adherence universal hygienic precautions
Saxena 2003	Retrospective study, In the first phase, 189 patients who were receiving maintenance HD from 1995 to 2000 were studied about prevalence of HCV. Phase II involved stringent isolation of anti‐HCV positive patients detected during phase, with dedicated space, dialysis equipment, and nursing staff from December 2000 to December 2001. Prevalence rate of 43.9% (83/189) and an annual HCV seroconversion rate of 6.8% were identified in this cohort. Only 2 new HCV seroconversions (1.01% (2/198)) were identified after isolation.
Shebeb 2006	This study compared strict adherence to the universal precautions and anti HCV seropositive patient isolation. Three units: A: education intervention program, 30 patients and 12 staff personal, B: none of the preventive measures were applied, 66 patients nursed by 16 staff C: had 67 patients nursed by 27 staff. The incidence rate of anti HCV seroconversion decreased in unit A from (10% to 0%), and in unit C from (24.4% to 10%), 6 months of the follow. It increased in unit B, where no measure was taken, from 10.5% to 16.7%.
Valtuille 1998	Study applying extreme conditions of permeability to the dialysis membrane and avoiding the use of heparin and dialysis bath. They obtained samples from the ultrafiltrate at the beginning of 18 HD sessions carried out in 6 HCV RNA‐positive patients. HCV RNA was detected by PCR in 3 (16.7%) ultrafiltrate samples belonging to 1 of the patients. HCV genotype was the same as that found in positive ultrafiltrate samples and in the serum corresponding to this patient.
Yang 2003	Retrospective study, 325 HD patients from1993 to 2000 were included, isolation started after 1997. Patients positive for either hepatitis B or C were clustered in 1 area. Anti‐HCV‐negative and HBsAg ‐ negative patients were assigned either to a segregated zone (Area 2) in the same room or to a separate independent room (Area 3). Forty months after the implementation of the isolation policy, there was significant reduction in the total prevalence (49.7 vs 31.7%) and incidence (9.1 vs 2.9 % patient‐years) of HCV infection.

HBsAg ‐ hepatitis B surface antigen; HCV ‐ hepatitis C virus; HD ‐ haemodialysis