INCIDENCE OF HEPATITIS FOLLOWING USE OF POOLED PLASMA

Abstract

THE HAZARD of hepatitis in the course of convalescence of a war casualty or otherwise injured person has been generally recognized. This is due mainly to the inadvertent introduction of the virus of hepatitis through the use of nonsterile or poorly cleansed syringes,1needles, or surgical instruments and to the injection of blood or blood products such as plasma and thrombin2which may contain the virus of hepatitis. This type of hepatitis is distinct from that ordinarily seen and known as epidemic hepatitis. While the hospitalized patient may be exposed to both forms, that which is transmitted by blood or its products seems to be of greater importance and incidence. No accurate studies have been reported, but it is believed that with modern methods of therapy the risk of hepatitis in a hospitalized patient is considerably greater than in a nonhospitalized person under otherwise comparable conditions. It is