Penrose Inquiry 27.144 

In advance of the meeting of the re-convened UK Blood Transfusion Service Working Party on Transfusion Associated Hepatitis, Dr Gunson circulated a report dated October 1986 on ALT and anti-HBc screening of blood donations.[217] In his report, Dr Gunson stated that the best estimate of the incidence of transfusion-associated NANB Hepatitis in the UK was 3%. If it was assumed that the 2.3 million donations in the UK were transfused to 750,000 recipients annually then one would expect 22,000 icteric or anicteric cases of NANB Hepatitis (cases, that is, with or without clinical jaundice) in each year.........The argument followed the approach of Dr Alter's group in February 1986 when it changed direction and supported surrogate screening.

Penrose 27 87 The Lancet in July 1981

In a UK prospective study of post-transfusion hepatitis,[124] frank hepatitis developed in 1%, there were sustained increases of alanine aminotransaminase (ALT) in 4.5%.