Open AccessAutomated nucleic acid amplification testing in blood banks: An additional layer of blood safety
Author(s) -
Pragati Chigurupati,
K V Dakshina Murthy
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
asian journal of transfusion science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.262
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 1998-3565
pISSN - 0973-6247
DOI - 10.4103/0973-6247.150938
Subject(s) - nat , medicine , window period , hepatitis b virus , population , virology , serology , hepatitis b , blood transfusion , multiplex , residual risk , blood donor , context (archaeology) , blood donations , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , immunology , virus , antibody , environmental health , biology , bioinformatics , computer network , paleontology , computer science
A total of 30 million blood components are transfused each year in India. Blood safety thus becomes a top priority, especially with a population of around 1.23 billion and a high prevalence rate of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in general population. Nucleic acid amplification testing (NAT) in blood donor screening has been implemented in many developed countries to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted viral infections (TTIs). NAT takes care of the dynamics of window period of viruses and offers the safest blood pack for donation.