Detection of Hepatitis Carriers by Serum Glutamic Oxalacetic Transaminase Activity

The prevention of homologous serum hepatitis (HSH) after transfusions depends on improved methods of detecting latent hepatitis among prospective donors. In a series of 1,371 recipients adequately followed up, 39 developed HSH. When the donor bloods were classified according to their serum glutamic oxalacetic acid transaminase (SGO-T) values, it was found that the incidence of HSH was only 1.5% among recipients of blood with normal SGO-T values while the corresponding figure was 5.5% for SGO-T values above 100 units. Since the differences were statistically significant, it appeared that SGO-T determinations would be more useful than most or all of the tests currently used for screening out hepatitis carriers among prospective blood donors.