CLINICAL, EPIDEMIOLOGICAL AND PROGNOSTIC ASPECTS OF HEPATITIS NON-A, NON-B - COMPARISON WITH HEPATITIS-A AND HEPATITIS-B

Sera of 480 hospitalized hepatitis patients were tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), antibody to HBsAg (anti-HBs) and to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc), antibody to hepatitis A virus (anti-HAV) and anti-HAV of IgM-class. Serological markers indicating hepatitis A infection were found in 107 (22.3 %) and markers indicating hepatitis B in 297 patients (61.9 %), while 63 patients (13.1%) were classified as hepatitis type “non-A, non-B”. The latter group mainly comprised drug addicts (50.8%), cases of posttransfusion hepatitis (11.1 %) and patients without obvious hepatitis exposure (28.6%). In spite of these epidemiological similarities to hepatitis B., the maximum levels of serum alanine aminotransferase and bilirubin were comparable to those in patients with hepatitis A and significantly lower than in hepatitis B infection. Chronic hepatitis developed in 7.1 % of the “non-A, non-B” patients, a figure close to that reported for hepatitis B. © 1979, Informa UK Ltd. All rights reserved.