title: Blood screening for influenza.
abstract: Influenza viruses, including highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (H5N1), could threaten blood safety. We analyzed 10,272 blood donor samples with a minipool nucleic acid amplication technique. Analytical sensitivity of the method was 804 geq/mL and 444 geq/mL for generic influenza primers and influenza (H5N1) subtype-specific primers. This study demonstrates that such screening for influenza viruses is feasible.
authors.affiliation: German Red Cross, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael Kai
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Hourfar
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Themann
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eickmann
authors.forename: Pilaipan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Puthavathana
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Laue
authors.forename: Erhard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Seifried
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schmidt
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D001769:Blood / Q000821:virology*; D001782:Blood Donors; D003429:Cross Reactions; D005784:Gene Amplification; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D053124:Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000097:blood* / Q000635:transmission*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012449:Safety; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013045:Species Specificity