A study of primary- and re-infection with hepatitis C virus in blood transfusion recipients

A nested polymerase chain reaction was used to assess viraemia in blood transfusion recipients with no serological evidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (naive recipients) and in recipients with prior or existing HCV infection (infected recipients), who were transfused with HCV-positive bloo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of gastroenterology and hepatology Vol. 9; no. 3; p. 211
Main Authors Meng, Z D, Xu, D G, Sun, D G, Lu, H Y, Copland, J, Liu, C Y, Ma, X K, Chen, S F, Niu, J Z, Sun, Y D
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Australia 01.06.1994
Subjects
Alanine Transaminase - blood
Base Sequence
Hepacivirus - genetics
Hepacivirus - immunology
Hepatitis Antibodies - blood
Hepatitis C - immunology
Hepatitis C - microbiology
Hepatitis C - transmission
Hepatitis C Antibodies
Humans
Molecular Sequence Data
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Prospective Studies
Recurrence
RNA, Viral - blood
Transfusion Reaction
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Summary:A nested polymerase chain reaction was used to assess viraemia in blood transfusion recipients with no serological evidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (naive recipients) and in recipients with prior or existing HCV infection (infected recipients), who were transfused with HCV-positive blood. In 10 hepatitis cases in naive recipients, defined as primary infection, nine showed clinical hepatitis, and one was sub-clinical; the time between transfusion and elevation of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels was 15-60 days (37.9 +/- 13.9). All 10 naive recipients showed abnormal ALT, and 10/10 and 7/10 were persistently positive for anti-HCV and HCV-RNA, respectively, for more than 1 year. Similarly, in five cases in previously infected recipients, defined as re-infection, 4/5 showed clinical hepatitis, the time to elevation of ALT was 30-46 days (34.8 +/- 6.4), and 5/5 and 3/5 were persistently positive for anti-HCV and HCV-RNA, respectively, for more than 1 year. All five infected recipients showed abnormal ALT. In conclusion, there was no significant difference (P = 0.05) in the frequency of the markers of infection resulting from primary or re-infection with HCV, suggesting that primary infection fails to induce a protective immune response.
ISSN:0815-9319
DOI:10.1111/j.1440-1746.1994.tb01711.x