title: Evaluation of serological transfusion-transmitted viral diseases and mutliplex nucleic acid testing in malaysian blood donors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Transmission of infectious diseases is a recognized complication of blood transfusion and blood products. Nucleic acid testing (NAT) may contribute to improved efficiency of blood screening and thereby increase the safety margin for transfused blood.
  
  
  METHODS
  Unscreened blood samples from 1388 randomized donors were selected for this study at the Transfusion Medicine Unit of Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM). Informed consent was obtained from all donors and blood samples were tested for HIV, HBV and HCV serologically and by NAT assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 1,388 tested samples, 1,360 were non-reactive for both assays. Four samples (0.29%) were both serologically and NAT reactive. The remaining twenty-four samples were divided into two groups. Of these, five samples (0.366%) were NAT reactive and nineteen samples (1.37%) were serologically reactive. However, serology confirmation tests run on the latter nineteen samples were non-reactive.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hence, NAT adds benefit of detecting "false positive" reactions via standard serology, the cost of administering NAT also need further consideration and study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology/Haematology Unit, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. Electronic address: drsaifghazi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Saif Ghazi
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Yaseen
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Johan
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kiron
authors.forename: Aqil Mohammad
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Daher
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001782:Blood Donors; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000379:methods*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011897:Random Allocation; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Blood Transfusion; HBV; HCV; HIV; NAT; Viral Disease