Prevalence of anti-HCV in Norwegian blood donors with anti-HBc or increased ALT levels |
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Authors: | G Hetland, K Skaug, J Larsen, A Maland, JH Stromme, G Storvold |
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Affiliation: | Department of Immunology, Ullevaal Hospital, Oslo, Norway. |
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Abstract: | Testing for hepatitis B core antibodies (anti-HBc) was performed in 12,104 consecutive blood donors, 139 (1.15%) of whom were found to be positive. The first 6036 donors were also screened for ALT; 91 (1.51%) had repeatedly elevated values. ALT screening was of no help in detecting anti-HBc-positive donors. Those with anti-HBc or repeatedly raised ALT levels were further tested for hepatitis C virus antibodies (anti-HCV), and 3 (2.16%) and 1 (1.10%) anti-HCV-positive donors were detected, respectively. This prevalence of anti-HCV (0.5%) is not significantly different from that found in 1000 unselected donors at our blood bank. Testing for ALT and anti-HBc as surrogate markers for hepatitis C is therefore not recommended in Norwegian blood donors and should be replaced by anti-HCV screening. |
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