Fulminant hepatitis and the new G/GBV-C flavivirus

A new virus within the family Flaviviridae, ‘hepatitis’ G/GBV‐C, has been incriminated by several authors as a causative factor of idiopathic or cryptogenic fulminant hepatitis, a syndrome of presumed viral aetiology. Review of worldwide data from 22 studies on 364 cases indicates that G/GBV‐C infection is present in approximately 20% of idiopathic cases but a similar or even higher prevalence is detected in fulminant hepatitis of viral B, D or C aetiology, reflecting a high rate of parenteral viral exposure rather than a specific aetiology of fulminant hepatic failure. An aetiopathogenic role of G/GBV‐C in fulminant hepatitis seems to be further refuted by the analysis of other data in the literature. The presence of G/GBV‐C infection in fulminant hepatic failure is largely a result of secondary infection or coinfection. The aetiopathogenetic mystery of cryptogenic or idiopathic fulminant hepatitis remains unsolved.