Hepatitis G virus infection in the elderly

Background and Aims. At least 10% of post-transfusion and community-acquire d hepatitis cases are nor accounted for by the A to E viruses. Hepatitis G virus (HGV), a novel agent belonging to the Flaviviridae and distantly rela ted to HCV has recently been identified. The epidemiology and clinical sign ificance of this infection in the geriatric setting is still little known. Aim of the investigation was to assess the prevalence and clinical signific ance of HGV infection in the geriatric setting. Patients. 105 unselected consecutive patients (mean age 73.4 years). Methods. HGV-RNA was detected by a single-tube reverse-transcription hemine sted polymerase chain reaction with primers from the 5' untranslated region of the virus. Anti-HGV antibodies were detected with a commercial anti-E2 immunometric assay. Results. 3/105 patients (2.9%) were viraemic, without a history or clinical evidence of hepatitis. Anti-HGV antibodies were detected in 25 patients (2 3.8%), 40% of whom had associated anti-HCV antibodies. The presence of HGV- RNA and anti-HGV antibodies was mutually exclusive. Conclusions. HGV infection is highly prevalent in our population and the cu mulative risk of exposure is proportional to age. In most cases, HGV infect ion is self-limiting and clinically irrelevant. Immunity against E2 or othe r associated uncharacterized viral epitopes appears to be protective.