Public Health Service inter-agency guidelines for screening donors of blood, plasma, organs, tissues, and semen for evidence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C

Abstract

Several infectious agents transmit through infected blood and blood products. To decrease the potential for disease transmission, donors are screened for risk factors by medical history and for evidence of infection by specific testing. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently requires that all donations of whole blood and transfusable components as well as plasma for fractionation into injectable derivatives be subjected to a serologic test for syphilis, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), and antibody to the human immunodeficiency virus (anti-HIV). The FDA also currently recommends testing donations of whole blood and components for transfusion for antibody to human T lymphotropic virus type I (anti-HTLV-I) and antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV), and is considering recommending testing for antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc). Blood banks in the United States voluntarily began testing donations for anti-HBc and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in 1986 and 1987 and for anti-HCV in 1990.