title: [Immunoblot as a supplemental test to detect antibodies to hepatitis C virus in blood donors].
abstract: Supplemental tests using Immunoblot are recommended to improve specificity of anti-HCV by ELISA. In Brazil immunoblot is not officially recommended. Aiming to identify EIA false-positive rate 70 positive EIA anti-HCV blood donors were submitted to 3rd generation immunoblot at Hemocentro of Mato Grosso State where polymerase chain reaction tests are not performed. There were 44 (62.9%) immunoblot-positive, 22 (31.4%) negative and 4 (5.7%) indeterminate. Anti-HCV immunoblot can distinguish blood donors with false-positive ELISA from those who need medical assessment. Our data suggest that immunoblot could be useful in Brazilian blood banks where molecular biology tests are not available.
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Estudos de Doenças Infecciosas e Tropicais de Mato Grosso, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Spain. fsouto@terra.com.br
authors.forename: Francisco José Dutra
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Souto
authors.forename: Luciano Côrrea
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Gustavo Faria
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Perazolo
authors.forename: Hildenete Monteiro
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Fortes
authors.forename: Alzira Almeida
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Saldanha
mesh_terms: D001782:Blood Donors; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies