A study of primary- and re-infection with hepatitis C virus in blood transfusion recipients.
A nested polymerase chain reaction was used to assess viraemia in blood transfusion recipients with no serological evidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (naive recipients) and in recipients with prior or existing HCV infection (infected recipients), who were transfused with HCV-positive blood. In 10 hepatitis cases in naive recipients, defined as primary infection, nine showed clinical hepatitis, and one was sub-clinical; the time between transfusion and elevation of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels was 15-60 days (37.9 +/- 13.9). All 10 naive recipients showed abnormal ALT, and 10/10 and 7/10 were persistently positive for anti-HCV and HCV-RNA, respectively, for more than 1 year. Similarly, in five cases in previously infected recipients, defined as re-infection, 4/5 showed clinical hepatitis, the time to elevation of ALT was 30-46 days (34.8 +/- 6.4), and 5/5 and 3/5 were persistently positive for anti-HCV and HCV-RNA, respectively, for more than 1 year. All five infected recipients showed abnormal ALT. In conclusion, there was no significant difference (P = 0.05) in the frequency of the markers of infection resulting from primary or re-infection with HCV, suggesting that primary infection fails to induce a protective immune response.
Meng
Z D
ZD
Hygiene and Anti-epidemic Station of Hebei Province, Beijing, China.
Xu
D G
DG
Sun
D G
DG
Lu
H Y
HY
Copland
J
J
Liu
C Y
CY
Ma
X K
XK
Chen
S F
SF
Niu
J Z
JZ
Sun
Y D
YD
D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D001483:Base Sequence; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D012008:Recurrence; D065227:Transfusion Reaction
D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral; D000410:Alanine Transaminase