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[Post-transfusion hepatitis 1973 and 1974 in the Zürich region]
More than 100 000 units of blood were tranfused during the years 1973-74 in the region of Zurich. 30 cases of posttransfusion hepatitis (PTH) reported in this period were investigated with regard to the origin of the tranfused blood, and 24 (71%) proved to be hepatitis B antigen (HBS-Ag) positive. Despite the use of a sensitive method for HBS-Ag screening, transfusion of HBS-Ag positive blood was found to be responsible for PTH in 4 cases only. In 88% of the cases there was no proof that the PTH was caused by blood transfusion. Hepatitis A virus, EPstein-Barr virus and Cytomegalovirus do not appear to be important causative factors in PTH syndrome. Reasons for failure to detect hepatitis virus in donor blood are discussed. There appear to be other sources of hepatitis-virus infection than blood transfusion.
More than 100 000 units of blood were tranfused during the years 1973-74 in the region of Zurich. 30 cases of posttransfusion hepatitis (PTH) reported in this period were investigated with regard to the origin of the tranfused blood, and 24 (71%) proved to be hepatitis B antigen (HBS-Ag) positive. Despite the use of a sensitive method for HBS-Ag screening, transfusion of HBS-Ag positive blood was found to be responsible for PTH in 4 cases only. In 88% of the cases there was no proof that the PTH was caused by blood transfusion. Hepatitis A virus, EPstein-Barr virus and Cytomegalovirus do not appear to be important causative factors in PTH syndrome. Reasons for failure to detect hepatitis virus in donor blood are discussed. There appear to be other sources of hepatitis-virus infection than blood transfusion.