Prevalence of hepatitis G virus in Queensland blood donors

• Published in: Medical journal of Australia Vol. 165; no. 7; p. 369
• Main Authors: Moaven, L D, Hyland, C A, Young, I F, Bowden, D S, McCaw, R, Mison, L, Locarnini, S A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Australia 07-10-1996
• Subjects: Adult; Alanine Transaminase - blood; Blood Donors - statistics & numerical data; Carrier State - blood; Carrier State - epidemiology; Carrier State - immunology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Flaviviridae - genetics; Hepatitis B Antibodies - blood; Hepatitis C Antibodies - blood; Hepatitis, Viral, Human - blood; Hepatitis, Viral, Human - epidemiology; Hepatitis, Viral, Human - immunology; Humans; Male; Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Prevalence; Queensland - epidemiology; Retrospective Studies; RNA, Viral - blood; Transcription, Genetic; Queensland
• ISSN: 0025-729X
• DOI: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1996.tb125019.x

To determine the prevalence of hepatitis G virus (HGV) carriage in Queensland blood donors.
Cross-sectional survey with retrospective longitudinal study of HGV-positive donors.
Brisbane Red Cross Blood Bank, 1995.
100 consecutive blood donors attending the Blood Bank on two days in October 1995 and 20 blood donors with a raised plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level on their last donation.
Presence of HGV RNA by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in currently donated blood and in blood samples archived for up to 34 months. RT-PCR used two different reverse transcription methods and three different specific sets of primers and probes.
Five of the 120 blood donors were positive for HGV RNA by all RT-PCR methods (four of the 100 with normal ALT levels [4%] and one of the 20 with raised ALT levels [5%]). Retrospective testing of archived samples showed that four of these five had been persistently HGV RNA-positive for at least two years, while the fifth had been HGV RNA-negative on two donations before becoming HGV RNA-positive. No risk factors were identified for this donor.
A relatively large number of Queensland blood donors (4%) are persistently HGV RNA-positive.