title: Exposure of hepatitis C virus-negative recipients to > or =2 infected blood donors.
abstract: This study analyzed 4 cases of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-naive transfusion recipients who developed hepatitis after receiving blood from >1 HCV-infected donor. One recipient was exposed to 4 donors, 2 were exposed to 3 donors, and 1 was exposed to 2 donors. For 3 recipients, the strain from 1 of the donors predominated in all follow-up samples collected for 8-40 months. For 2 recipients, the strain from the second donor was occasionally detectable with sensitive strain-specific assays. For the fourth recipient, the initially dominant strain was later supplanted by a strain from the other donor. Simultaneous exposure to multiple HCV strains may result in concomitant infection by >1 strain, although a single strain rapidly establishes its dominance. These observations are compatible with the presence of competition among infecting HCV strains that results in the dominance of 1 strain and competitive exclusion or suppression of other strains.
authors.affiliation: Division of Transplantation Medicine, SC Johnson Bldg. Sj3, Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, Scottsdale, AZ 85259, USA. laskus.tomasz@mayo.edu
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Laskus
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Radkowski
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nowicki
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rakela
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence; D001782:Blood Donors; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity; D065227:Transfusion Reaction; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; C087036:NS-5 protein, hepatitis C virus; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase