title: A study of primary- and re-infection with hepatitis C virus in blood transfusion recipients.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Hygiene and Anti-epidemic Station of Hebei Province, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Z D
authors.initials: ZD
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: H Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Copland
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: X K
authors.initials: XK
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: J Z
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.forename: Y D
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral; D000410:Alanine Transaminase