title: The specificity of anti-HCV supplementary assays.
abstract: A total of 920 samples from blood donors screened as anti-HCV negative by two third-generation screening assays (Ortho Diagnostics v3.0 and Murex Diagnostics VK48) were tested by two supplementary anti-HCV assays, RIBA III (Ortho Diagnostics) and Western blot (Murex Diagnostics VK68). Six (0.65%) of the samples gave scorable bands by RIBA III and 5 (0.54%) by Western blot. Only single-band reactivity was seen and there was no consensus reactivity between the two assays. Single-band reactivity in supplementary assays, especially in samples from low-risk populations, needs to be interpreted with care before being taken as indication of genuine previous or current HCV infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Brentwood Blood Transfusion Centre, UK.
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Kitchen
authors.forename: N V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Tucker
mesh_terms: D001782:Blood Donors; D015153:Blotting, Western; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000517:prevention & control; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting / Q000379:methods*; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic