Application of single specimen nucleic acid test in donor blood screening

Objective To study the application of nucleic acid testing of non-pooled specimens in blood screening. Methods Procleix TIGRIS automatic NAT system,together with Routine ELISA assays,was used to test blood samples.Samples with reactive results in initial screening but nonreactive in repeat tests were subjected to alternative NAT assay;NAT positive samples were diluted to simulate minipools of 4,8 and 16 NAT. Results Out of the total 12 005 samples,51 were ULTRIO reactive,and 17 were found nonreactive after repeated ULTRIO assay.And 6 of the 17 were tested HBV DNA positive by ROCHE NAT.Positive rate decreased apparently after simulating minipool NAT,especially in samples with low virus copies. Conclusion Individual donation nucleic acid test has some advantages as well as some disadvantages in blood screening,and choice should be made on the basis of the requirement.