High prevalence of GB virus C in Brazil and molecular evidence for intrafamilial transmission

The prevalence of GB virus C (GBV-C) in candidate Brazilian blood donors wi th normal and elevated alanine aminotransferase levels was found to be 5.2% (5 of 95) and 6.5% (5 of 76), respectively. Among Brazilian patients, GBV- C was Found in 9.5% (13 of 137) of cases of hepatitis not caused by hepatit is A,virus (HAV), HBV, HCV, HDV, or HEV (non-A-E hepatitis) and in 18.2% (8 of 44) of individuals infected with HCV. Molecular characterization of GBV -C by partial sequencing of the NS3 region showed clustering between member s of a single family, implying intrafamilial transmission. In conclusion, t hese results together suggest that contagion mechanisms which facilitate in trafamiliar transmission of GBV-C may partially explain the high prevalence of viremic carriers worldwide.