Detection of serum antibodies to hepatitis C virus in 'false-seronegative' blood donors in Oman.
OBJECTIVE
To detect hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies in seronegative donors by disruption of the immune complexes (ICs).


METHODS
HCV antibody detection was carried out on 600 seronegative donors following an IC dissociation assay. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was then performed on the positive results.


RESULTS
Nine of the 600 samples (1.5%) were positive for IC-dissociated HCV antibodies. Of the 9 only 3 antibody-positive samples had detectable HCV RNA.


CONCLUSIONS
Screening for antibodies to HCV in combination with PCR appears to be the safest way to reduce the residual risk of HCV in blood transfusion.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Al-Khod, Oman.
Adel
A
Alnaqy
Safia
S
Al-Harthy
Geraldine
G
Kaminski
Said
S
Al-Dhahry
D001782:Blood Donors; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D009850:Oman; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies