Incidence of post-transfusion hepatitis in Taiwan before and after introduction of anti-HCV testing.
The effectiveness of second-generation anti-hepatitis C virus antibody (anti-HCV) screening of blood donations for the prevention of non-A, non-B post-transfusion hepatitis (NANB PTH) was assessed. A prospective study of 192 transfusion recipients was performed to compare the incidence of NANB PTH after the introduction of the second-generation anti-HCV test with the incidence before its introduction. We used a polymerase chain reaction to detect HCV-RNA and HBV-DNA in the sera of patients with NANB PTH. The incidence of acute post-transfusion hepatitis C was 11% (8 of 71) before the screening for anti-HCV as compared with 2.5% (3 of 121) after the screening (p < 0.05). Viremia was detected within the first five weeks of infection in 10 patients with acute post-transfusion hepatitis C. However, there was no significant difference in the incidence of non-A, non-B, non-C (NANBNC) PTH before screening (3 of 71, 4.2%) compared with after screening (3 of 121, 2.5%). Usually, NANBNC PTH was not clinically important. Anti-HCV screening of blood donors significantly reduces the incidence of post-transfusion hepatitis C, but not the incidence of NANBNC PTH.
Chang
T T
TT
Department of Internal Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Young
K C
KC
Yang
Y J
YJ
Lai
K A
KA
Wu
H L
HL
Wu
M H
MH
Chen
M Y
MY
Lin
X Z
XZ
Lin
C Y
CY
Shin
J S
JS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D013624:Taiwan
D004279:DNA, Viral; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral