Incidence of latent hepatic disease in blood donors; possible relation to carrier state of viral hepatitis.

Abstract

That viral hepatitis may be transmitted by whole blood or plasma is well known. The assumption has often been made that persons suffering from clinically inapparent infection are transient carriers of the virus and are infectious for only short periods of time. The existence of long-term asymptomatic carriers of the virus of hepatitis has been demonstrated recently by Neefe and his coworkers and by Stokes and his associates. In the study of Neefe and his collaborators, 14 cases of viral hepatitis occurring in recipients of 1 to 3 blood transfusions were reported. In each instance, at least 1 donor for each of the 14 patients was found to have 1 or more abnormal hepatic tests when recalled and examined following the onset of viral hepatitis in the recipient of this blood. Blood serum from 5 of these 6 suspected carriers transmitted viral hepatitis to volunteers. The results of this study were sufficiently striking to suggest a search for hepatic tests that might be found useful in detecting donors who are carriers of viral hepatitis. The present paper deals with the incidence of abnormal hepatic tests in a large series of blood donors selected at random at this hospital.