title: Non-A non-B hepatitis associated with chronic liver disease in a haemodialysis unit.
abstract: To clarify the aetiology of an outbreak of HBsAg-negative acute hepatitis in the renal unit at Fulham Hospital in 1968--70, serological tests for antibody to hepatitis-A virus (anti-H.A.V.) were done retrospectively on serum samples obtained at the time of the outbreak. 7 patients had had two previous episodes of clinical HBsAg-negative hepatitis. Serum samples were available from 24 of the 29 infected patients, and these were paired in 12 instances. There was a slight increase in the titre of anti-H.A.V. in 1 patient, and a further 2 patients who subsequently developed chronic hepatitis showed a decrease in titre, but no changes in titre were detected in the remaining 21 cases. These findings do not provide evidence for the involvement of hepatitis-A virus in the outbreak of hepatitis and effectively exclude a role for this virus in the chrnoic liver disease which developed subsequently in 8 (28%) of the patients. This outbreak is therefore probably non-A non-B hepatitis, which has not been reported previously in Great Britain in a haemodialysis unit. The results confirm that this form of hepatitis may be related to a high frequency of persistent hepatic dysfunction.
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000209:etiology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000382:microbiology; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000382:microbiology; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000276:immunology; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D006507:Hepatovirus / Q000276:immunology; D006757:Hospital Units; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000150:complications; D008131:London; D006435:Renal Dialysis
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens