NON-A, NON-B HEPATITIS NOT FOLLOWING TRANSFUSION - A STUDY OF HOSPITAL PATIENTS IN JERUSALEM

Abstract

An analysis of the etiology of acute viral hepatitis in 172 hospitalized patients showing that 70.9% suffered from hepatitis A (HA), 12.2% from hepatitis. B (HB), 1.7% from infectious mononucleosis and 15.1% (26 cases) from non-A, non-B hepatitis. Patients who had received blood transfusions during the 6 mo. preceding the onset of the disease were not included in the present survey. The male:female ratio in the patients with non-A, non-B hepatitis was 1:88; 73% were Ashkenazic and 27% non-Ashkenazic Jews. The ethnic distribution of patients with non-A, non-B hepatitis was similar to that of patients with HA but differed from that of HB patients (only 41%Ashkenazic). Of the non-A, non-B group, 38% had had contact with jaundiced patients during the 6 mo. preceding the onset of the disease, and 46% were students or soldiers. The clinical course of the disease was, on the whole, milder than that of HB and similar to that of HA. Since many cases of non-A, non-B hepatitis are anicteric, it is concluded that the disease is a significant problem in Israel.