Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is mostly transmitted by the oral-fecal route. However, rare cases of transmission via blood transfusion still exist. A retrospective study was designed to trace a case of transfusion transmitted HAV (TTHAV) infection through the Post Donation Infection (PDI) system in Korea in 2006. We report here on a case of TTHAV that was identified through a lookback study. A 35-year old woman received 6 units of packed red cell transfusion when undergoing Caesarian section in a hospital. Ten days later, she developed a high fever and sore throat. Anorexia and abdominal pain developed in 45 days after transfusion. She was diagnosed with acute tonsillitis at the hospital, and she was not aware of her HAV infection at that time. Then, a donor informed the blood center of his HAV infection 10 days after donation to request his blood be discarded. The recipients of the blood were traced and epidemiological studies lead to the patient, which prompted her serum to be collected and tested. Finally, TTHAV was identified for this patient with positive anti-HAV IgG/IgM results. This is the first case of TTHAV to be identified through the HAV lookback study in Korea.
Abdominal Pain ; Anorexia ; Blood Transfusion ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Female ; Fever ; Hepatitis ; Hepatitis A ; Hepatitis A Antibodies ; Hepatitis A virus ; Humans ; Korea ; Palatine Tonsil ; Pharyngitis ; Retrospective Studies ; Tissue Donors ; Tonsillitis