TRANSFUSION-ASSOCIATED HEPATITIS-C VIRUS-INFECTION

Hepatitis G virus (HGV) is a recently described flavivirus present in 1-2% of blood donors. It is transmitted parenterally and is found at h igh frequency in patients receiving multiple blood products, haemodial ysis patients and injecting drug users. Acute infection causes a mild hepatitis in a minority of patients. Many subjects remain persistently infected, but there is little evidence to date that chronic HGV infec tion causes hepatic or other disease. At present polymerase chain reac tion-based techniques are used for diagnosis, although serological tes ts are being developed. Currently, there is little evidence to suggest that screening of blood donors for HGV infection should be carried ou t. (C) 1998 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.