title: A comparative evaluation of the sensitivity of seven anti-hepatitis C virus screening tests.
abstract: The sensitivity of the most recent generation of anti-hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) screening tests from seven manufacturers was evaluated with a common panel of 530 specimens from 320 HCV-infected subjects. This panel included 221 samples from 57 seroconverters (53 pre-sero conversion negative specimens and 168 positive samples) and 309 selected specimens from 263 other HCV-infected patients of which 19% exhibited NS3 or core reactivity alone with the presence of HCV-RNA assessed by PCR. None of the seven screening tests detected all infectious and antibody-positive specimens. However, important differences were observed between these assays in the number of false-negative results, which seemed mainly due to nonreactivity of antibody to the NS3 antigen.
authors.affiliation: Institut National de Transfusion Sanguine, Paris, France.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Couroucé
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barin
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Botté
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lunel
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maisonneuve
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maniez
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Trepo
mesh_terms: D000937:Antigen-Antibody Reactions; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005602:France; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000276:immunology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies