title: Safer blood--supplementation of blood products with anti-HBs.
abstract: An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for the detection and quantitation of antibodies (anti-HBs) to the surface antigen of the hepatitis B virus (HBsAg). The ELISA uses HBsAg as the solid phase, and, after conjugation to horseradish peroxidase, also as the conjugate. Conditions for this assay were optimized and a rapid (1.5 hours) ELISA has evolved which works very satisfactorily for the large-scale screening of donated blood. We have used this ELISA to examine donated blood in Natal and concluded that we cannot initiate a programme of anti-HBs supplementation of parenteral blood products without hyperimmunization and plasmapheresis of selected, voluntary donors.
mesh_terms: D001782:Blood Donors; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D013019:South Africa
chemical_list: D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens