A CASE OF TRANSFUSION-ACQUIRED HEPATITIS-C

The Blood Transfusion Service introduced screening for Hepatitis C ant ibody (HCV) in September 1991. This is done by second generation enzym e linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests. We present a case of post- transfusion hepatitis C hepatitis in a patient with myeloma. Infection was acquired before screening was introduced. Both the patient and th e infected blood donor were diagnosed using ELISA assays and the polym erase chain reaction (PCR). In this way we prevented the blood donor f rom spreading the virus via subsequent blood donations. There were som e interesting discrepancies in the HCV assays. Blood samples, when tes ted by different methods, gave both positive and negative results. The results also varied according to when the blood samples to be tested were taken. The case illustrates the importance of confirming positive results and that no single laboratory test is entirely satisfactory i n diagnosing HCV infection.