HIV-1 NAT minipool during the pre-seroconversion window period: detection of a repeat blood donor.
BACKGROUND
The introduction of nucleic acid amplification technology (NAT) for screening pooled or individual donations remarkably improved the safety of blood products. The size of mini-pooled NAT is considered critical for identification of HIV-1 infected donors during preseroconversion phase of infection. We describe a case of HIV-1 infection in a serologically negative repeat blood donor identified by 16 minipool (MP) NAT.


METHODS
The donation was tested by Roche Cobas AmpliScreen HIV-1 Test with manual extraction (MultiPrep Specimen Processing Procedure). The sensitivity of different MP sizes was observed. Serial samples of infected donor were examined with different third and fourth generation HIV-1 serological assays.


RESULTS
In the index donation viral load was 515 copies/ml corresponding to about 50 IU when diluted in 16 MP. Abbott third and fourth generation EIA tests detected the seroconversion four days later the index donation.


CONCLUSIONS
The report emphasizes the relevance of a very small size of MP to really reduce the window serologic phase of current EIA test by HIV-1 NAT test.
Palla
P
P
Blood Center and NAT Section, Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria, Pisa, Italy. p.palla@ao-pisa.toscana.it
Vatteroni
M L
ML
Vacri
L
L
Maggi
F
F
Baicchi
U
U
D000328:Adult; D001782:Blood Donors; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000097:blood*; D015497:HIV-1; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D019562:Viral Load / Q000379:methods
D012367:RNA, Viral