Hepatitis C virus in multiple episodes of acute hepatitis in polytransfused thalassaemic children.
We investigated the course of distinct episodes of acute non-A, non-B (NANB) hepatitis in three polytransfused thalassaemic children. In each case, the first episode was associated with the appearance of serum hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA and anti-HCV seroconversion. The second episode was accompanied by the reappearance of HCV viraemia, which in two patients was due to reinfection with a different HCV strain and in the third could be the result of either reactivation of primary infection or reinfection with a new but closely related strain. Thus HCV infection may not induce protective immunity, which has implications for vaccine development.
Lai
M E
ME
Institute of Internal Medicine, University of Cagliari, Italy.
Mazzoleni
A P
AP
Argiolu
F
F
De Virgilis
S
S
Balestrieri
A
A
Purcell
R H
RH
Cao
A
A
Farci
P
P
D000208:Acute Disease; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D012008:Recurrence; D013789:Thalassemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy; D065227:Transfusion Reaction; D014766:Viremia / Q000209:etiology*