HEPATITIS ANTIGEN: Correlation with Disease and Infectivity of Blood-Donors

A specific acute-phase antigen has been demonstrated in the sera of patients with viral hepatitis. In addition, this antigen was found in some blood-donors and correlated with development of hepatitis in recipients of their blood. The antigen was detected with a two-dimensional immunodiffusion system, employing sera from patients who had received multiple transfusions as antisera. 77 patients with acute viral hepatitis were studied. Of 49 tested in the first 12 days after the onset of symptoms, 39 (80%) were positive. No difference in incidence of this factor in the infectious and serum forms of viral hepatitis could be detected. The presence of this hepatitis antigen has been correlated closely with the course of acute viral hepatitis. Peak titres were found before clinical evidence of hepatitic injury reached a maximum, and the antigen disappeared before resolution of the illness. The antigen disappeared from 6 to 34 days after the onset of symptoms, with an average of 18 to 19 days. This factor was not present in patients with other types of liver disease or in patients with various other conditions. Hepatitis antigen was found in 8 of 1726 apparently healthy blood-donors. Of the 8 recipients of blood from these donors, 2 died of their underlying disease shortly after transfusion. Of the remaining 6, 4 developed a positive test for hepatitis antigen and 3 of these exhibited clinical evidence of hepatitis. The other 2 remain well at 2 and 4 months after transfusion. None of 30 recipients of 238 units of negative donor blood developed hepatitis after transfusion.