Risk of hepatitis-E virus infections among blood donors in a regional blood transfusion centre in western India.

Background: Hepatitis-E virus (HEV) is an emerging infectious threat to blood safety. The enormity of the transmission of HEV and its clinical consequence are issues currently under debate. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of HEV-RNA in blood donors in western India.

NAT positivity in seronegative voluntary blood donors from western India.

Background And Objectives: Prevalence and composition of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV-1, NAT positive but seronegative voluntary blood donors from western part of India is yet to be documented.

Material And Methods: Over last 2 1/ years all the seronegative voluntary blood donors were tested using 10 minipools on a semiautomated NAT testing platform. The positively tested donors were followed up for at least five months for development of seropositivity.

Assessment of semi-automated nucleic acid testing programme in a Regional Blood Transfusion Centre.

Background: Detection of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1), hepatitis-C (HCV) and hepatitis-B virus (HBV) in the blood donors is crucial. An efficient form of detection is nucleic acid testing (NAT) in blood screening. We assessed the suitability of commercial NAT testing in a developing country, focusing on the Altona RealStar assay and the method of Sacace Biotechnologies.