title: Does the hepatitis G virus cause hepatitis?
abstract: As many as 10% to 20% of presumed viral hepatitis cases are serologically non-A-E. Recently, two groups of investigators independently isolated a viral agent that may contribute to non-A-E viral hepatitis. This virus, named hepatitis G or GB virus C (HGV/GBV-C), is present in about 2% of accepted US blood donations. This paper reviews both the details involving isolation of the virus and the current epidemiological data, and shows that the accumulated evidence to date does not support the claim that HGV/GBV-C is responsible for non-A-E viral hepatitis.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute-National Institutes of Health Research Scholars Program, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Hematology Branch, USA.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Loya
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000741:Anemia, Aplastic / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D018067:Flaviviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006501:Hepatic Encephalopathy / Q000821:virology; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012367:RNA, Viral; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral