In the mid-1970s , Harvey J. Alter , Chief of the Infectious Disease Section in the Department of Transfusion Medicine at the National Institutes of Health , and his research team demonstrated how most post-transfusion hepatitis cases were not due to hepatitis A or B viruses .
In the mid-1970s , Harvey J. Alter , Chief of the Infectious Disease Section in the Department of Transfusion Medicine at the National Institutes of Health , and his research team demonstrated that most post-blood transfusion hepatitis cases were not due to hepatitis A or B viruses .