Hepatitis C antibody in healthy Puerto Rican blood donors: prevalence, hepatic functional and histological abnormalities
Martinez, J.; Rubio, C.E.; Oharriz, J.J. et al.
Boletin de la Asociacion Medica de Puerto Rico 84(3): 94-96
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0004-4849 Document Number: 700031
The prevalence of hepatitis C antibody by ELISA I in 45 797 consecutive Puertorican blood donors was 1.41%. 67 of these donors were fully evaluated and 31 underwent liver biopsy. Risk factors for hepatitis C were present in 71.6%, and 45% had elevated ALT. Of the 31 donors that underwent liver biopsy, 16 had elevated ALT and all had significant histologic abnormalities, while only one with normal ALT had chronic active hepatitis. RIBA II was performed in 37 and only 20 (54%) were positive. Of the 17 RIBA II positive donors that underwent biopsy, 88% had evidence of chronic liver disease. Of 530 donors positive for hepatitis C antibody by ELISA I in whom RIBA II was performed, 282 were negative, making the percentage of false positives 53.2%. [The authors] conclude that Puerto Rico has a high rate of hepatitis C infection, and that RIBA II positivity and elevated ALT predict the presence of significant liver disease. [The survey demonstrates the problems of hepatitis C screening in blood donors. A significant proportion of donors were positive on screening, only 72% of whom had risk factors, but only 54% of 37 donors were confirmed positive by the RIBA test. A lot of money and much donated blood is lost in screening.] AS/M.G. Brook.