Results of a general hepatitis C lookback program for persons who received blood transfusions in a neonatal intensive care unit between January 1975 and July 1992.

Objective: To notify persons who received a blood transfusion in a neonatal intensive care unit between January 1975 and July 1992 of their risk for hepatitis C infection and to encourage them to seek hepatitis C antibody testing.

Design: Neonatal intensive care unit, blood bank, and public access records were queried to identify current mailing addresses and persons deceased. All persons were notified by letter.

Results of a hepatitis C general transfusion lookback program for patients who received blood products before July 1992.

Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody (anti-HCV) screening for persons who received blood products before July 1992. A general transfusion lookback program was implemented to identify, counsel, and screen persons who received transfusions at the Alaska Native Medical Center between January 1980 and July 1992.

Study Design And Methods: Hard-copy transfusion records data were entered, and available databases were queried to identify deceased patients and the mailing address of those living.

Estimating the date of hepatitis C virus infection from patient interviews and antibody tests on stored sera.

Objectives: Studies on the natural history and outcome of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection differ regarding the proportion of persons who develop serious sequelae over time. Most of these studies use an estimated date of HCV infection based on risk factor data obtained from patient interviews. The date of HCV infection is often estimated using the year of a pre-1992 blood transfusion (BT), or the first year of injecting drug use (IDU).

Hepatitis A vaccine: immunogenicity following administration of a delayed immunization schedule in infants, children and adults.

Current immunization schedules for hepatitis A vaccine specify administration of a booster within 6-12 or 6-18 months of the primary dose. However, there may be circumstances that disrupt this schedule and the efficacy of administering a booster beyond the recommended time is a practical concern for healthcare providers. In this study, a booster was administered to 268 participants (137: <18 years old), an average of 27 months (range 20-31) after the primary dose.