Diagnosis of viral hepatitis. Experience in a South African laboratory.

Analysis of results in 14 250 specimens assayed for the diagnosis of viral hepatitis at one laboratory shows that hepatitis A and B are endemic in South Africa and that an important part of the diagnostic workload of virology laboratories now consists of determining their markers. The results fall into previously described patterns, but some anomalies were detected which indicated that unintentional parenteral transfer may occur even when testing for hepatitis B markers has been done. Furthermore, simultaneous hepatitis A and B infections or superinfection of carriers were found to be not as uncommon as one would expect. A progression flow-chart was drawn up to show how the markers change in retested patients, and this may serve as a guide for clinicians dealing with viral hepatitis in South Africa.