Extract of Chapter 16 Some unfavourable effects of Transfusion of Clinical Medicine by PLMollison Seventh Edition Chapter 16 discusses PostTransfusion Viral Hepatitis in depth It was stated that viral hepatitis acquired from the donor remains the commonest lethal complication of blood transfusion The discovery in 1968 that the viraemic phase of serum hepatitis hepatitis B or HB could be recognized encouraged the hope that all infectious donors could be detected and post transfusion hepatitis thus eliminated Also that although the transmission of hepatitis B virus is now largely preventative it has emerged that other viruses not yet characterized can also cause posttransfusion hepatitis PTH and that it will not be possible to eliminate PTH until tests for these other viruses have been developed