[Prevalence of non A - non B hepatitis in childhood (author's transl)]

Little is known from the literature about the epidemiology of non A - non B hepatitis (NANB/H) in childhood. Aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of NANB/H in a consecutive series of children with acute viral hepatitis hospitalized over an one year's period. Thirty children, 9 females, aged 3-12 years, were studied. Serial blood samples were tested for HBsAg, anti-HBs, anti-HBc, anti-HAV (Abbott RIA), anti-HAV-IgM (Absorption Staph. aureus protein A), anti-EBV (Immunofluorescence), anti-CMV, anti-Herpes s. virus (complement fixation). The diagnosis of NANB/H was based on the absence of these markers. Nineteen patients (63,3%) had type A, and 5 (16,6%), had type B hepatitis. One child showed antibodies anti-Herpes with rising titer and 5 (16.6%), 2 females, were considered suffering from NANB/H. None of these patients had been injected or haemotransfuded; all but one came from rural ambient and two from the same family. Two children had an anicteric course. The illness lasted less than 30 days in all but one, who showed three peaks of transaminases and recovered after 70 days. These data show a prevalence of NANB/H in childhood greater than that elsewhere reported, while the absence of injections suggests a way of infection other than parenteral.