Association between neonatal blood microtransfusions in the 1960s and hepatitis C virus infection

In the 1960s, a common practice in Italy was to give a few mL of blood or plasma to underweight or preterm newborns. We postulated that this practice might be the cause of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections seen today in adults with a negative history, and no recall of such transfusions. We examined the transfusion files of children admitted to the Department of Paediatrics during 1968-74, and found that 613 children had been transfused within the first year of life. Of 57 traceable patients, 28 are now positive for antibodies to HCV, 17 of whom received at least one microtransfusion from a common donor who is also positive.