Abstract
This study analyzed 4 cases of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-naive transfusion recipients who developed hepatitis after receiving blood from >1 HCV-infected donor. One recipient was exposed to 4 donors, 2 were exposed to 3 donors, and 1 was exposed to 2 donors. For 3 recipients, the strain from 1 of the donors predominated in all follow-up samples collected for 8-40 months. For 2 recipients, the strain from the second donor was occasionally detectable with sensitive strain-specific assays. For the fourth recipient, the initially dominant strain was later supplanted by a strain from the other donor. Simultaneous exposure to multiple HCV strains may result in concomitant infection by >1 strain, although a single strain rapidly establishes its dominance. These observations are compatible with the presence of competition among infecting HCV strains that results in the dominance of 1 strain and competitive exclusion or suppression of other strains.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 666-669 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Journal of Infectious Diseases |
Volume | 183 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 15 2001 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology and Allergy
- Infectious Diseases