title: Post-transfusion hepatitis C in Finland.
abstract: Six of 11 (55%) non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANBH) patients seroconverted to hepatitis C virus antibody (anti-HCV) positivity 8-16 weeks after transfusions in a prospective post-transfusion hepatitis study on 685 open-heart surgery patients in Finland. Five of them had a seropositive donor, and two of the five non-converted NANBH patients had received an anti-HCV positive unit. Among 36 studied donors who were positive in the anti-HCV ELISA, reactivity of both the antigen bands in a recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA) for anti-HCV was significantly associated with NANBH (P < 0.00005) in the recipient. In addition, infective anti-HCV positive donors had raised ALT values more often than seropositive donors which caused no seroconversion or infection in the recipients (P = 0.0001).
authors.affiliation: Finnish Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ebeling
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Naukkarinen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Leikola
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001782:Blood Donors; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D065227:Transfusion Reaction
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies