Hepatitis G virus in Saudi blood donors and chronic hepatitis B and C patients

Screening blood donors for blood-borne pathogens is very critical for the recipient's safety. Similar to hepatitis B and C infections, hepatitis G infection is transmitted through contaminated blood and causes acute and chronic hepatitis. Previous reports have shown that the prevalence of hepatitis G virus (HGV) RNA among healthy Saudi donors was 1%-2%. However, the exposure rate of this virus has never been studied. We hypothesized that the prevalence of HGV infection may have changed overtime due to socio-economic and environmental factors. Since hepatitis B and C infections are endemic in Saudi Arabia, we investigated the exposure rate of HGV infection in healthy donors and chronically infected hepatitis B and C patients.

A prospective study was done on healthy donors and patients with chronic HBV and HCV infections. Hepatitis B and C viral loads were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction. HGV exposure rate was evaluated by detection of HGV antibodies.

Analysis of samples from healthy donors (n = 210), chronic HBV+ patients (n = 169), and chronic HCV+ patients (n = 105) showed that nine samples (4.3%), seven samples (4.1%), and four samples (3.8%) were positive for HGV antibodies, respectively. The non-significant difference in the exposure rates of HGV between the study groups may indicate that HGV infection occurs independent of HBV or HCV infections.

We showed for the first time that the exposure rate of HGV infection among the Saudi population is 4.3%, and we recommend HGV screening for all blood donors.