THE PREVALENCE OF HEPATITIS-C IN SURVIVORS OF PEDIATRIC MALIGNANCY

Objective: To assess the prevalence of hepatitis C in 200 patients wit h paediatric malignancies, surviving in remission more than 5 years fr om diagnosis, who had received blood product transfusions before 1990 when routine screening of blood products for hepatitis C began, Method : The second and third generation Abbott Diagnostics ELISA was used to assess hepatitis C seropositivity. Seropositive patients and those wi th abnormal liver transaminases were assessed by hepatitis C virus RNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Results: A low incidence (4%) of ser opositivity for hepatitis C was found in survivors of paediatric malig nancy who were transfused prior to routine screening of blood products in this cohort. Conclusions: All patients identified have evidence of hepatitis and may be at high risk of developing cirrhosis.