Hepatitis C in asymptomatic blood donors

EDITOR,—In their response to a letter about their paper on hepatitis C in asymptomatic blood donors D J Multimer and E Elias state that “guidelines on counselling and investigating these donors do not exist.”1 They are no doubt referring to clinical guidelines for doctors dealing with these people once they have been referred for further investigation by specialist hepatology units. The National Blood Service has had detailed guidelines for confirming hepatitis C, counselling donors, and referral since screening was initiated in 1991.