title: Prevalence of anti-HCV in Norwegian blood donors with anti-HBc or increased ALT levels.
abstract: Testing for hepatitis B core antibodies (anti-HBc) was performed in 12,104 consecutive blood donors, 139 (1.15%) of whom were found to be positive. The first 6036 donors were also screened for ALT; 91 (1.51%) had repeatedly elevated values. ALT screening was of no help in detecting anti-HBc-positive donors. Those with anti-HBc or repeatedly raised ALT levels were further tested for hepatitis C virus antibodies (anti-HCV), and 3 (2.16%) and 1 (1.10%) anti-HCV-positive donors were detected, respectively. This prevalence of anti-HCV (0.5%) is not significantly different from that found in 1000 unselected donors at our blood bank. Testing for ALT and anti-HBc as surrogate markers for hepatitis C is therefore not recommended in Norwegian blood donors and should be replaced by anti-HCV screening.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Ullevaal Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hetland
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Skaug
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Larsen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maland
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Strømme
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Størvold
mesh_terms: D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood*; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens; D000410:Alanine Transaminase