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Long-term follow-up of patients with spontaneous clearance of hepatitis C: does viral clearance mean cure?

Up to 40% of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies are negative for HCV RNA at initial evaluation. If there is a risk of viral re-activation, long term follow-up is required with attendant financial, psychological and medical implications. We investigated the risk of re-activation in the Irish anti-D cohort. Information was obtained from the national hepatitis C database which includes data on patients infected by anti-D immunoglobulin in two large outbreaks, 1977-9 and 1991-94. As part of a screening programme, starting in 1994, 64,907 females exposed to anti-D immunoglobulin were evaluated. Three hundred and forty-seven were found to be antibody positive but HCV RNA negative at initial assessment. 93% had subsequent RNA tests. There was no evidence of HCV recurrence in patients whose infection resolved spontaneously. It appears that two initial sequential negative results for HCV RNA are sufficient to confirm spontaneous viral clearance and probable cure of hepatitis C virus infection.