[Hepatitis C virus (HCV) status in recipients transfused with blood from anti-HCV-positive donors].

Ten donors positive for antibodies to hepatitis C were discovered in the community of Aarhus after the introduction of screening of blood donors. These donors had donated blood products to 123 recipients. Of these recipients 76 were dead and 21 were not contacted for various reasons. Follow-up of anti-HCV status was performed in the remaining 26 recipients. Twenty-four (92%) of the recipients were positive in the RIBA confirmatory test, one was inconclusive and one was negative. Nine (90%) of the donors were hepatitis C virus RNA positive, while 17 (68%) of the recipients were HCV-RNA positive. Altogether (donors and recipients) 25 (76%) of the HCV-RNA positive patients had abnormal liver enzymes, while all HCV-RNA negative patients had normal enzyme levels. Eight of eleven HCV-RNA positive patients had an abnormal liver biopsy, while one patient in the HCV-RNA negative group had an abnormal liver biopsy. Three have been treated with interferon. In view of the liver damage already found only few years after transfusion, follow-up investigations in order to identify younger persons transfused with hepatitis C positive donations should be carried out and patients offered treatment if necessary. The National Board of Health has decided to recommend this strategy.