Anticore antibody screening of transfused blood.

Aliquots of 130 HB8Ag negative units of blood which were administered to 26 recipients were tested under code for anti-HBc by a solid phase radioimmunoassay technqiue. 14 of the 26 recipients developed posttransfusion hepatitis (PTH), including 6 cases of hepatitis B. Anti-HBc was detected in 7 or 5.3% of 130 donor units. Of the 14 patients acquiring PTH, 6 received a unit of anti-HBc-positive blood. Type B hepatitis occurred in 4 of the 7 anti-HBc recipients, and non-type B hepatitis in 2. Only 1 of 12 recipients who failed to develop PTH had received a unit containing anti-HBc.