transfusion hepatitis

Particles of what may be a new virus were detected from one of the unexplained cases of transfusion hepatitis in the institutes' collection, Dr. Alter said.

The Hepatitis C virus was identified using novel molecular cloning techniques in 1987, leading to screening tests that dramatically reduced the incidence of post-blood transfusion hepatitis.

Before the introduction of routine hepatitis C screening of blood the incidence of post transfusion hepatitis in the US was about 5% per patient (1 per 200 units).

In the mid-1970s, Harvey J. Alter, Chief of the Infectious Disease Section in the Department of Transfusion Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, and his research team demonstrated that most post-blood transfusion hepatitis cases were not due to hepatitis A or B viruses.