Background:

Until lately, anti-HBc antibodies were considered an effective marker for occult Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and have served their role in improving blood safety. But, with the development of advanced tests for HBV DNA detection, the role of anti-HBc in this regard stands uncertain.

Materials and Methods:

Anti-HBc and HBsAg ELISA and ID-NAT tests were run in parallel on donor blood samples between April 1, 2006 and December 31, 2010 at the Department of Transfusion Medicine, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi. A positive ID-NAT was followed by Discriminatory NAT assay.

Results:

A total of 94 247 samples were tested with a total core positivity rate of 10.22%. We identified nearly 9.17% of donors who were reactive for anti-HBc and negative for HBsAg and HBV DNA. These are the donors who are potentially non-infectious and may be returned to the donor pool.

Conclusion:

Although anti HBc testing has a definite role in improving blood safety, centers that have incorporated NAT testing may not derive any additional benefit by performing anti-HBc testing, especially in resource-limited countries like ours.

Background & objectives:

India has the second highest HIV population in the world with about 2.5-3.0 million cases. HIV-2 cases among general and blood donor population have also been reported mostly from west and south India. This single centre study was carried out to observe the HIV-1 and HIV-2 prevalence among blood donors from north India.

Methods:

A total of 2,04,677 people were screened for the presence of HIV infection over the 11 year period (1999 to 2009). Till 2004, a third generation ELISA kit was used. From 2005 till January 2009 all tests were done using the fourth generation ELISA kit which detected the presence of HIV-1 P24 antigen and anti-HIV antibodies. From February 2009 onwards, the kits used were Genscreen ULTRA HIV Ag-Ab Assay.

Results:

A total of 506 (0.247%) donors were found to be repeat reactive for HIV. Of these, 486 (96%) donors tested using the Western blot were found positive for HIV-1 infection. Twenty (4%) donors showed a negative Western blot result, none of the donors were found reactive for HIV-2 infection.

Interpretation & conclusions:

The prevalence of HIV was 0.249 per cent among blood donors of north India. No HIV-2 case was found among the studied blood donor population indicating that it is not a threat currently.

Introduction:

Storage of red cells causes a progressive increase in hemolysis. In spite of the use of additive solutions for storage and filters for leucoreduction, some amount of hemolysis is still inevitable. The extent of hemolysis, however, should not exceed the permissible threshold for hemolysis even on the 42nd day of storage.

Study Design and Methods:

Eighty units of packed red cells, 40 stored in SAGM post leucoreduction and 40 in ADSOL without leucoreduction filters, were evaluated for plasma hemoglobin by HemoCue Plasma Hemoglobin analyzer on the day of collection and on the 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, 35th and 42nd days thereafter. The hemoglobin and hematocrit were also noted for all these units by the Beckman and Coulter analyzer. Percentage hemolysis was then calculated.

Observations:

Hemolysis progressively increased with the storage period in all the stored red cell units (SAGM as well ADSOL). However, on day 42nd of storage, free hemoglobin in all the red cell units was within the permissible level (which is 0.8% according to the Council of Europe guidelines and 1% as per the US FDA guidelines). The mean percentage hemolysis was slightly higher in the SAGM-containing bags with an integral leucoreduction filter as compared to the bags containing ADSOL. However this difference was marginal and not statistically significant.

Conclusion:

Hemolysis of the red cells increases with storage. However, maximum hemolysis does not exceed the permissible limits at any time thereby indicating the effect of optimum processing and storage conditions on red cell hemolysis.