Infection with hepatitis GB virus C in patients on maintenance hemodialysis.

Background A recently discovered non-A–E hepatitis virus has been designated hepatitis GB virus C (HGBV-C), but little is known about its mode of transmission and its clinical manifestations. We studied 519 patients on maintenance hemodialysis to determine whether they were infected with HGBV-C. Methods HGBV-C RNA was identified in serum by a reverse-transcription–polymerase-chain-reaction assay with nested primers deduced from a nonstructural region. A nucleotide sequence of 100 bp in the nonstructural region was determined on HGBV-C clones. Results HGBV-C RNA was detected in 3.1 percent of the patients on hemodialysis (16 of 519), as compared with 0.9 percent of healthy blood donors (4 of 448, P<0.03). None of the 16 patients had evidence of active liver disease, although 7 were also infected with hepatitis C virus. Eight patients with HGBV-C infection were followed for 7 to 16 years. In two patients the virus was present at the start of hemodialysis. One had a history of transfusion, and HGBV-C RNA per...