[A prospective study on post-transfusion hepatitis G virus infection].
OBJECTIVE
To study the incidence of post-transfusion hepatitis G virus (HGV) infection in our country and the relationship between it and post-transfusion hepatitis B (HB) and C (HC).


METHODS
Hepatitis B surface antigen, hepatitis Be antigen, antibodies against HBsAg, HB core antigen HBe and HC virus, HCV RNA and HGV RNA were detected for 138 patients with blood transfusion before and after ther surgical operations.


RESULTS
There occurred 53 cases of post-transfusion hepatitis virus infection, 48 with HCV infection and two with HBV infection (including one of super-infection with HBV and HCV). HGV infection could be found with nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in seven cases, three of them co-infected with HCV all with elevated activity of serum alanine transaminase (ALT). But, ALT was kept normal in the patients with simple HGV infection. HGV RNA could be detected for one month to half a year. Residual donor's blood for five of the seven patients with post-transfusion HGV infection was available for examination, and HGV RNA was detected positive in at least one of the donor's blood for 3 cases.


CONCLUSIONS
No clinical manifestation with viral hepatitis and no elevation in activity of serum ALT were found in blood donors and blood transfusion patients with infection of simple HGV, which did not conform to the view that HGV was an important hepatitis virus.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D018067:Flaviviridae; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D065227:Transfusion Reaction