GB virus C/Hepatitis G virus infection is frequent in American children and young adults

The novel flavivirus GB virus C/hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) has been dete cted in similar to\2% of blood donors in the United States, and neutralizin g antibody to the envelope protein (E2), a marker of previous infection wit h GBV-C/HGV, is present in similar to 9% of donors, The rate of GBV-C/HGV i nfection among American children is unknown. To determine whether viral inf ection might occur during childhood, 160 serum specimens (obtained from blo od bank samples) from children and young adults with no history of transfus ion were tested. Viral RNA and antibody to E2 were detected in 6.3% and 9.4 % of subjects, respectively. Evidence of previous or current infection (vir emia and/or antibody to E2) was detected in 13.8% of subjects, indicating t hat GBV-C/HGV infection appears to be common among American children and yo ung adults, even in the absence of blood transfusion.