PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Akhter, Javed
AU  - Roberts, George T.
AU  - Perry, Angela
AU  - Gaucher, Julie S.
AU  - Howman, Peter A.
TI  - Use of nucleic acid testing for blood donor screening of Human Immunodeficiency virus and Hepatitis C virus in the Saudi population
DP  - 2001 Dec 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 1073--1075
VI  - 22
IP  - 12
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/22/12/1073.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/22/12/1073.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2001 Dec 01; 22
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the risk of transfusion associated infection for human immunodeficiency virus and Hepatitis C virus using nucleic acid testing.METHODS: During March 1998, 400 donor blood samples from the Saudi population that were negative by serology were further tested for human immunodeficiency virus 1 and 2 and Hepatitis C virus using nucleic acid testing.RESULTS: A total of 400 were tested by nucleic acid testing, 381 of these were negative, 4 were indeterminate but were found to be negative on repeat testing and one seronegative sample was found to be positive for Hepatitis C virus.CONCLUSION: Due to the low prevalence of human immuno-deficiency virus in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, nucleic acid testing of blood donors by serology is adequate for screening. But the higher prevalence of Hepatitis C virus and increased risk of transmission would indicate that nucleic acid testing may be warranted for Hepatitis C virus in the near future.