Chronic Non-A, Non-B Hepatitis Carrier State

Abstract

NON-A, non-B hepatitis is a major health problem, present in up to 89 per cent of patients with post-transfusion hepatitis¹ and 25 per cent of hospitalized patients with sporadic hepatitis.² Experimental transmission to chimpanzees of human non-A, non-B hepatitis^{3 4 5 6 7} and passage of an agent of non-A, non-B hepatitis to additional chimpanzees⁸ have demonstrated the cause to be a transmissible agent or agents and provided an animal model for further study of the disease. These studies and others have led to the development of experimental assays designed to detect antigen–antibody systems present in serum^{9 , 10} and liver¹¹ associated with non-A, non-B hepatitis. . . .