Prevalence of GBV C/HGV RNA and GBV C/HGV antibodies in French volunteer blood donors: results of a collaborative study.

Background And Objectives: Posttransfusion hepatitis still occurs at an incidence of about 1 in 118,000 for HBV and 1 in 220,000 for HCV. This collaborative study aimed to determine the prevalence of a novel flavivirus, GBV-C/HGV, even though its role in transfusion-associated hepatitis is uncertain.

Materials And Methods: GBV-C/HGV RNA was detected by PCR using either the Boehringer detection kit or by primers previously described.