Non-A non-B hepatitis associated with chronic liver disease in a haemodialysis unit

Abstract

To clarify the aetiology of an outbreak of HBsAg-negative acute hepatitis in the renal unit at Fulham Hospital in 1968--70, serological tests for antibody to hepatitis-A virus (anti-H.A.V.) were done retrospectively on serum samples obtained at the time of the outbreak. 7 patients had had two previous episodes of clinical HBsAg-negative hepatitis. Serum samples were available from 24 of the 29 infected patients, and these were paired in 12 instances. There was a slight increase in the titre of anti-H.A.V. in 1 patient, and a further 2 patients who subsequently developed chronic hepatitis showed a decrease in titre, but no changes in titre were detected in the remaining 21 cases. These findings do not provide evidence for the involvement of hepatitis-A virus in the outbreak of hepatitis and effectively exclude a role for this virus in the chrnoic liver disease which developed subsequently in 8 (28%) of the patients. This outbreak is therefore probably non-A non-B hepatitis, which has not been reported previously in Great Britain in a haemodialysis unit. The results confirm that this form of hepatitis may be related to a high frequency of persistent hepatic dysfunction.