Evaluation of serological transfusion-transmitted viral diseases and mutliplex nucleic acid testing in malaysian blood donors.

BACKGROUND Transmission of infectious diseases is a recognized complication of blood transfusion and blood products. Nucleic acid testing (NAT) may contribute to improved efficiency of blood screening and thereby increase the safety margin for transfused blood. METHODS Unscreened blood samples from 1388 randomized donors were selected for this study at the Transfusion Medicine Unit of Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM). Informed consent was obtained from all donors and blood samples were tested for HIV, HBV and HCV serologically and by NAT assay. RESULTS Of the 1,388 tested samples, 1,360 were non-reactive for both assays. Four samples (0.29%) were both serologically and NAT reactive. The remaining twenty-four samples were divided into two groups. Of these, five samples (0.366%) were NAT reactive and nineteen samples (1.37%) were serologically reactive. However, serology confirmation tests run on the latter nineteen samples were non-reactive. CONCLUSIONS Hence, NAT adds benefit of detecting "false positive" reactions via standard serology, the cost of administering NAT also need further consideration and study.