[Non-A, non-B hepatitis: a new form of serum hepatitis]

Forty-seven patients with acute icteric form of "non-A-non-B" hepatitis which was diagnosed on the basis of clinico-epidemiological data, confirmed by the lack of HBsAg in the blood serum of the patients tested by sensitive methods (RIA, ELISA), and by the lack of rise in antibody titers to HBsAg and hepatitis A virus were observed. All the patients had undergone parenteral manipulations including blood transfusions in 34% of the cases. The incubation period was 66.9 +/- 7.07 days. "Non-A, non-B" hepatitis ran a comparatively mild course, with rapid regression of biochemical and clinical signs. Chronic persisting hepatitis developed in 5% of the cases. The above results suggest that "non-A-non-B" hepatitis is a distinct form of serum hepatitis.