The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Blood transfusions to be safer for patients

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Thursday, Mar 17, 2011
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Blood transfusions to be safer for patients

Staff Reporter

Bowring Hospital gets nucleic acid testing lab

SCREENING PROCESS:The nucleic acid testing laboratory will function on a pilot basis for the first year at the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in Bangalore.

Bangalore: Poor patients visiting Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital from across the State can now be assured of safe blood transfusion with the State Government starting a nucleic acid testing (NAT) laboratory at the hospital.

The laboratory, set up in coordination with Novartis, will become functional in a week after disinfection.

Inaugurated on Monday, the laboratory will ensure that all donated blood is tested for infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B and C that may go undetected by conventional tests such as ELISA.

Donor risk

With several patients depending on blood donations, safe blood transfusion is an important part of medical treatment. But many donors may be unaware they are carriers of infections such as HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). When this donated blood is not tested properly and transfused into other patients, the infections are transmitted to the recipients.

A single unit of blood or its components (red blood cells, platelets and plasma) may be given to more than one recipient, spreading disease rapidly.

Siddiq M. Ahmed, professor of Pathology at Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) said the NAT laboratory will enable direct detection of the minutest presence of a virus before antibodies are detected by conventional screening methods.

“It significantly reduces window periods resulting in fewer infections through blood transfusions and safe blood, thus preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis,” he said.

Explaining the effectiveness of NAT, Prof. Ahmed said: “NAT assays can detect HIV-1 within 5.3 days after infection as against 15 days taken through ELISA. This reduces the risk by 65 per cent,” he said.

“While it takes 58.3 days and 38.3 days to detect HCV and HBV respectively through ELISA, it can be done within 3.4 days and 15 days post infection respectively using NAT,” he said.

Others can test too

Director of Medical Education A.R. Aruna said the laboratory would function on a pilot basis for the first one year. “Private hospitals and other blood banks can also use the facility by sending their samples to the hospital for testing. This service will be charged,” she said.

At the hospital, the service will be free for those from below the poverty line and a nominal rate would be worked for those above poverty line, she said.

Health Secretary E.V. Ramana Reddy, Commissioner D.N. Nayak and BMCRI Dean O.S. Siddappa were present.

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