title: Serologial screening of human T cell lymphotropic virus I and II (HTLV I/II) in blood banks by immunoblotting and enzyme-immuno assays: to demand or to defeat?
abstract: Human T cell lymphotropic virus I and II (HTLV I/II) has been recommended to be screened for blood donors since 1988, and it become a mandatory test to get college of american Pathologists (CAP) accreditation. The present study aimed at investigating the prevalence rate of HTLV I/II among Arab blood donors, to revise whether is its screening mandatory? Thirty-thousand (30,000) Arab donors along two years attending two central hospital blood banks in Jeddah. Antibodies to HTLV I/II have been screened using enzyme immunoassay (E.I.A) and immunoblotting assay (Western blot). Results revealed zero prevalence rate. Based upon this finding, no potential risk of HTLV I/II transmission among blood donors population exist. As screening for HTLV I/II is still mandatory, it could be done on pools of sera rather than on individual serum samples, after standardization of a pooling protocol, to fulfill coast-effectiveness and reduce the coasts by 90-95%.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology & Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine (For Girls), AI-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Maha I Sh
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Kawashti
authors.forename: S I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Hindawi
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Damanhouri
authors.forename: Nadia G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Rowehy
authors.forename: Manal M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Bawazeer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alshawa
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D001771:Blood Banks; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D015482:HTLV-II Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D015491:HTLV-II Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies; D015482:HTLV-II Antibodies