Prevalence of GBV C HGV RNA and GBV C HGV antibodies in French volunteer blood donors: Results of a collaborative study

Background and Objectives: Posttransfusion hepatitis still occurs at an inc idence of about 1 in 118,000 for HBV and 1 in 220,000 for HCV. This collabo rative study aimed to determine the prevalence of a novel flavivirus, GBV-C /HGV, even though its role in transfusion-associated hepatitis is uncertain . Materials and Methods: GBV-C/HGV RNA was detected by PCR using either the Boehringer detection kit or by primers previously described. HGV antibodie s were detected by a serological assay from Boehringer, Results: The observ ed GBV-C/HGV RNA frequency was 3.4%. HGV antibodies occurred in 9.5% of don ors. Conclusion: In our study, 12.9% of the donors had been in contact with the GBV-C/HGV virus.