LACK OF EVIDENCE OF HEPATITIS-C INFECTION IN 290 BLOOD COMPONENT RECIPIENTS, DEMONSTRATED BY SEVERAL SINGLE-ANTIGEN RESEARCH IMMUNOASSAYS

BACKGROUND: A group of 290 transfusion recipients enrolled in a prospe ctive study of posttransfusion hepatitis was studied to determine the possibility of previously unrecognized hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmi ssion. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Before and after transfusion, blood s pecimens that were negative in first-generation enzyme immunoassay (EI A) were tested by current commercial EIAs, several single-antigen rese arch EIAs, and supplemental tests. RESULTS: Current second-and third-g eneration EIAs identified five subjects (1.7% of total) who had chroni c hepatitis C before transfusion. Twenty additional sera had some reac tivity with research EIAs. However, those results were the same before and after transfusion (n = 7), had reverted to partially reactive or nonreactive (n = 8), or could not be confirmed by serologic tests or p olymerase chain reaction in follow-up specimens (n = 5). CONCLUSIONS: Transient or restricted reactivity to HCV antigens measured by more se nsitive research EIAs does not seem to correspond to recent HCV transm ission by transfusion. Whether such reactivity could reflect remote HC V infection, with the potential for chronic or intermittent viremia, r emains to be determined.