Gamma Globulin

[xracer1]

Could an injection of Gamma Globulin in 1970 be a source of HVC?

Thank you!

[Douglas Dieterich, MD]

You bet it could! The blood supply was not safe until June of 1992 when good HCV testing went into effect. If you got that shot then get tested for HCV right away! DTD

[pigeonca]

Would this include intramuscular injections of gamma globulin or only intravenous shots?

I was given gamma globulin back in the early 1950s when I was exposed to the measles.  Given the fact that I have none of the usual risk factors for hcv in my background, might not the GG be a possible source of my hepatitis?

If this is the case, shouldn't we be asked about gamma globulin whenever we present our medical histories?  I'm a huge advocate of universal hcv testing, but in lieu of that, at least an expansion of the criteria to include gamma globulin shots when we were kids.

[bandman54]

Hate to make all you baby boomers paranoid -  this would not only effect vn vets but anyone receiving a gg shot in the u.s. during the 60s and 70s.  (IMO)

Organized study of the large numbers of troops afflicted with hepatitis was not undertaken in Vietnam; attention was focused on prevention and therapy. As early as the 1940's, Stokes and Neefe (1945) reported that epidemic icteric hepatitis could be either prevented or attenuated by the parenteral administration of human serum gamma globulin. In 1964, a program designed to protect all military personnel stationed in Asia against hepatitis was instituted. A 16-percent solution of human serum gamma globulin in a dose of 0.05 ml/lb was used. The gamma globulin was prepared from blood donated in the United States. A significant decrease in the prevalence of hepatitis during that year as compared to the previous year was seen in preliminary observations in both Korea and Vietnam. However, close examination of monthly hepatitis rates revealed that the decrease had begun 4 months before the gamma globulin prophylaxis program was initiated. Thus it was impossible to determine whether
the incidence of icteric hepatitis in American troops hospitalized in Southeast Asia was significantly affected by the administration of gamma globulin from the United States (Conrad 1972).