4/2/2017

Hepatitis C and transfusion: A 'lookback' primer

Official reprint from UpToDate ®
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Hepatitis C and transfusion: A 'lookback' primer
Author
Joy L Fridey, MD

Section Editor
Arthur J Silvergleid, MD

Deputy Editor
Jennifer S Tirnauer, MD

INTRODUCTION
In 2000, primary care physicians, surgeons, and other medical specialists began receiving notification from
hospital blood banks that a patient they had previously treated or were currently treating may have been
exposed to hepatitis C virus (HCV) as a result of blood transfusion. This United States Public Health Service
(USPHS)-mandated notification, developed in conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
came as a surprise to practitioners, who were faced with the task of locating patients, informing them about
the possible exposure, providing appropriate testing and counseling, and possibly evaluating or treating
those who were found to be HCV positive, in a process referred to as "lookback."
Lookback encompasses the activities associated with tracing and notifying patients who may have received
blood or blood components infected with transfusion-transmissible pathogens (TTP) from a previously
infectious disease test-negative, but now positive, donor. Lookback is required for other TTPs such as HIV,
but hepatitis C was unique because of the United States federal government's highly prescriptive
requirements for patient notification, which involved community physicians who cared for or were caring for
these patients.

Recognizing that involvement in an HCV lookback process is an infrequent and possibly new experience for
many practitioners, the purpose of this discussion is to review the rationale for HCV lookback, define
lookback, outline regulatory expectations, and provide physicians with resources that can make the patient
notification process less onerous.
This topic discusses the rationale for the HCV lookback and the role of the physician in locating affected
patients, with a focus on those in the United States. Similar programs exist in other countries.
Recommendations for screening and diagnosis of HCV infection in the general population is presented
separately. (See "Screening for chronic hepatitis C virus infection".)

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO THE HCV EPIDEMIC AND THE HISTORY OF HCV LOOKBACK
It is estimated that up to four million Americans are infected with HCV [1]. The majority of these individuals
have been exposed to the virus through the sharing of needles used in injection drug use, and a smaller
percentage through sexual contact, perinatally, or occupationally. Approximately one-third of infected people
do not identifiably fall into these risk categories, but have a history of behavior, such as multiple sex
partners, that places them at higher risk [2,3]. (See "Epidemiology and transmission of hepatitis C virus
infection".)

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Hepatitis C and transfusion: A 'lookback' primer

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Literature review current through: Jan 2017. | This topic last updated: thg 6 17, 2013.

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References
Top

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