The Quarterly journal of medicine
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The prevalence of antibody to hepatitis C virus, evidence of previous or current infection with this agent of parenterally transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis, was determined in 340 subjects residing in the United Kingdom. The antibody was detected in 3 per cent of unselected blood donors and in 60 per cent of patients with chronic post-transfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis. ⋯ Although the seropositivity rate in primary biliary cirrhosis and chronic B and delta hepatitis was very low (0-2 per cent), in patients with autoimmune and alcoholic liver disease it was 14-16 per cent which, although lower than that quoted in studies from Spain and Italy, is considerably higher than would be expected by chance. The reason for the high incidence of non-A, non-B hepatitis in this latter group of patients is unclear.