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Posttransfusion Hepatitis After Exclusion of Commercial and Hepatitis-B Antigen-Positive Donors
- HARVEY J. ALTER, M.D.;
- PAUL V. HOLLAND, M.D.;
- ROBERT H. PURCELL, M.D.;
- JERROLD J. LANDER, M.D.;
- STEPHEN M. FEINSTONE, M.D.;
- ANDREW G. MORROW, M.D.; and
- PAUL J. SCHMIDT, M.D.
Abstract
In a prospective study the exclusion of commercial blood donors and donors positive for hepatitis-B antigen (HBAg) resulted in a hepatitis frequency of only 3.7 cases/1000 units transfused. Residual posttransfusion hepatitis was caused by at least two viruses. Four of 10 cases were short incubation, HBAg negative; six cases were long incubation, HBAg positive. One patient had both diseases in sequence. Some cases of HBAg-positive hepatitis occurred despite the fact that patients received only blood that was HBAg negative by counterelectrophoresis; current tests for HBAg, including radioimmunoassay, cannot detect all donors capable of transmitting HBAg-positive hepatitis. The presence of anti-HBAg in donor blood was common and did not correlate with posttransfusion hepatitis; donors with anti-HBAg should not be excluded.
Article and Author Information
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▸From the Blood Bank Department, Clinical Center; Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and the Surgery Branch, National Heart and Lung Institute; National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.
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▸Requests for reprints should be addressed to Harvey J. Alter, M.D., Blood Bank Department, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.
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- Received May 26, 1972.
- Received July 13, 1972.
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