Antibodies to hepatitis C virus in blood donors

✍ Scribed by P. Ferroni; A. Tagger; M. L. Ribero; A. Grossi; F. Pregliasco; M. L. Pasquali; S. Salvaneschi

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1990
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 214 KB
• Volume: 6
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0393-2990
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00150442

✦ Synopsis

Recently a recombinant polypeptide of hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been developed by the Chiton Corporation in California. This antigen has been used to develop an ELISA test (Ortho Diagnostic Systems for serum anti-HCV antibodies. Preliminary data have shown that this virus is the major cause of NANB hepatitis in the world. We examined differences in anti-HCV prevalence among subgroups of blood donors (total sera examined 639) classified for past or present exposure to HBV or not, and for ALT levels. The anti-HCV prevalence found in regular blood donors with normal ALT levels and no antibody to HBcAg was 1.2%. No significant difference in the anti-HCV prevalence was found among other subgroups of blood donors except that a higher prevalence (10%) was found in a group with both elevated ALT and HBV markers.

These preliminary findings suggest that the policy of blood supply should take into account the advent of HCV antibody test.