Clinical Outcomes after Transfusion-Associated Hepatitis C

Serologic testing for antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV) has shown that over 90 percent of cases of post-transfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis in the United States are caused by HCV. Acute HCV infection is usually not detected clinically. Less than one third of infected patients have jaundice after receiving a transfusion. 1 , 2 Sustained elevations of serum aminotransferase concentrations for six months or longer have been noted in up to 60 percent of people with post-transfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis. These people have been considered to have chronic hepatitis. 2 , 3 In a recent study, the detection of HCV RNA in serum from . . .