Prevalence of hepatitis GB virus C/hepatitis G virus infection in blood donors in India.

BACKGROUND

Hepatitis GBV-C/HGV is a newly described RNA virus with a parenteral route of transmission. It has been implicated in fulminant hepatitis and chronic viral hepatitis. We undertook to study the prevalence of GBV-C/HGV infection in blood donors of a tertiary care hospital in India.

METHOD

Serum of 221 consecutive blood donors was tested for HBsAg, anti-HCV by EIA and HGV RNA by RT-PCR. Two sets of primers; one from the 5'non-coding region and other from NS5a region of the HGV genome, were used for amplification.

RESULTS

Prevalence of HGV RNA was found to be very low in healthy blood donors. Only two of the 221 (0.9%) donors were found to be HGV RNA positive. HBsAg and AntiHCV were found to be present in 5.43% (12/221) and 1.31% (3/221) respectively. Dual infection was seen in two of the 221 (0.9%) patients; one patient had HBsAg and HGV RNA positivity, while the other, had HBsAg and AntiHCV positivity.

CONCLUSION

GBV-C/HGV is an uncommon infection in healthy blood donors in India, especially when compared to the prevalence of HBV and HCV infection. It is therefore unlikely to be an important cause of transfusion associated hepatitis in India.