Hepatitis G Virus Infection in Screened Chinese Blood Donors

Background and Objectives: To determine the prevalence of the recently identified hepatitis G virus (HGV)/GBV-C in screened Chinese paid blood donors. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and seventy-nine plasma samples were tested for HGV RNA by RT-PCR with nested primers from the 5′-noncoding region of GBV-C. All samples were obtained from plasma or blood bags that had been screened twice by routine selection tests (ALT, HBsAg, Anti-HCV, anti-HIV, and syphilis) and were available for clinical use. Results: HGV RNA was detected in 2 (4%) of 50 paid plasma donors from the Beijing Red Cross Blood Center, 1 (2%) of 50 paid blood donors from Taiyuan, and 9 (5%) of 179 paid blood donors from Hebei, a total HGV detection rate of 4.3% (12/279). Conclusions: Our data suggest that HGV infection is relatively frequent even in screened donors, at least in paid screened donors, although larger-scale studies are required.