The prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus recombinant antigen c100-3 was determined in 82 pediatric patients with malignant diseases who received blood transfusions as support during their chemotherapy. By prescreening, 12 of 82 patients were repeatedly positive. No positive correlation was established neither with the number of transfused blood units nor with surrogate markers for hepatitis NANB like ALT or anti HBc. Additional testing by alternate test assays revealed discordant results in 11 of these patients. Possible explanations, like reactivity to test-immanent coexpressed antigens of Saccharomyces cerevisae are discussed.
