Anti-HTLV-III testing--a practical solution for blood transfusion services?

Abstract

Screening blood donations for anti-HTLV-III with a modification to a commercially available test kit has so far been found satisfactory--the reagent cost is less than R1.00 a donation. Should all transfusion services adopt this method, South Africa's total blood donations could be tested at a cost of about R650 000, instead of R2.7 million or more, a year.