Acute Sporadic Non-A Non-B Hepatitis in an Urban Community in New Zealand

Abstract
Acute sporadic non-A, non-B hepatitis is reported for the first time in New Zealand. Examination of sera from 94 patients with biochemical evidence of hepatitis showed that 26 (27%) had acute hepatitis B (HB), 22 (23%) had acute hepatitis A (HA) and 25 (26%) had acute non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANBH). Nine (10%) patients had Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) associated hepatitis and one (1%) had cytomegalovirus (CMV) hepatitis. There were 11 (13%) patients with mixed infections; eight with HA plus HB, one with HB plus EBV, one with HA plus EBV and one with HB plus CMV. Thus NANBH and EBV associated hepatitis must be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with clinical hepatitis with no history of possible percutaneous infection.