Prevention of posttransfusional non-A, non-B hepatitis using the screening test for guanase activity of donor blood

A total of 107 recipients, who did not show any evidence of hepatic disorders in pretransfusional liver function tests and gave a negative reaction for HBsAg, were observed from 3 weeks to 3 months after blood transfusion of 711 units of blood. Of 107 recipients, 18 (17%) developed posttransfusional non-A, non-B hepatitis (PTH). It was detected in 2 of 71 recipients (3%) with blood guanase activities below 3.5 U/L and in 16 of 36 recipients (44%) with blood guanase activities above 3.6 U/L. It is considered that development of PTH could be reduced by avoiding use of donor blood with high guanase activity. We adopted an automated method for measuring guanase in donor blood in the Tokushima Red Cross blood center and examined the incidence of PTH when donor blood with high guanase activity was excluded. Of 112 recipients, 8 (7%) developed PTH. The incidence of PTH was 17% before adoption of the guanase screening test and 7% after its adoption. This work shows that for prevention of PTH it is very important to screen donor blood for guanase activity and discard blood with high guanase activity.