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Review
. 2024 Jul;119(7):745-751.
doi: 10.1111/vox.13617. Epub 2024 Mar 22.

An international review of the characteristics of viral nucleic acid-amplification testing (NAT) reveals a trend towards the use of smaller pool sizes and individual donation NAT

Helen M Faddy  1   2 , Carla Osiowy  3 , Brian Custer  4   5 , Michael Busch  4 , Susan L Stramer  6 , Melinda M Dean  1   2 , Jessika Acutt  1 , Elvina Viennet  2 , Thijs van de Laar  7 , Wai-Chiu Tsoi  8 , Claire Styles  9 , Phil Kiely  9 , Angelo Margaritis  10 , So-Yong Kwon  11 , Yan Qiu  12 , Xuelian Deng  13 , Antoine Lewin  14 , Signe Winther Jørgensen  15 , Christian Erikstrup  15 , David Juhl  16 , Silvia Sauleda  17 , Bernardo Armando Camacho Rodriguez  18 , Lisbeth Jennifer Catherine Soto Coral  18 , Paula Andrea Gaviria García  18 , Sineenart Oota  19 , Sheila F O'Brien  20 , Silvano Wendel  21 , Emma Castro  22 , Laura Navarro Pérez  22 , Heli Harvala  23 , Katy Davison  24 , Claire Reynolds  25 , Lisa Jarvis  26 , Piotr Grabarczyk  27 , Aneta Kopacz  27 , Magdalena Łętowska  27 , Niamh O'Flaherty  28 , Fiona Young  28 , Padraig Williams  28 , Lisa Burke  28 , Sze Sze Chua  29 , An Muylaert  30 , Isabel Page  31 , Ann Jones  32 , Christoph Niederhauser  33   34 , Marion Vermeulen  35 , Syria Laperche  36 , Pierre Gallian  36 , Masahiro Satake  37 , Marcelo Addas-Carvalho  38 , Sebastián Blanco  39 , Sandra V Gallego  39   40 , Axel Seltsam  41 , Marijke Weber-Schehl  41 , Arwa Z Al-Riyami  42 , Khuloud Al Maamari  42 , Fatma Ba Alawi  42 , Hem Chandra Pandey  43 , Rochele Azevedo França  44 , Richard Charlewood  45 ; Virology and Surveillance, Risk Assessment and Policy subgroups of the ISBT WP‐TTID
Affiliations
Free article
Review

An international review of the characteristics of viral nucleic acid-amplification testing (NAT) reveals a trend towards the use of smaller pool sizes and individual donation NAT

Helen M Faddy et al. Vox Sang. 2024 Jul.
Free article

Abstract

Background and objectives: Nucleic acid-amplification testing (NAT) is used for screening blood donations/donors for blood-borne viruses. We reviewed global viral NAT characteristics and NAT-yield confirmatory testing used by blood operators.

Materials and methods: NAT characteristics and NAT-yield confirmatory testing used during 2019 was surveyed internationally by the International Society of Blood Transfusion Working Party Transfusion-Transmitted Infectious Diseases. Reported characteristics are presented herein.

Results: NAT was mainly performed under government mandate. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) NAT was performed on all donors and donation types, while selective testing was reported for West Nile virus, hepatitis E virus (HEV), and Zika virus. Individual donation NAT was used for HIV, HCV and HBV by ~50% of responders, while HEV was screened in mini-pools by 83% of responders performing HEV NAT. Confirmatory testing for NAT-yield samples was generally performed by NAT on a sample from the same donation or by NAT and serology on samples from the same donation and a follow-up sample.

Conclusion: In the last decade, there has been a trend towards use of smaller pool sizes or individual donation NAT. We captured characteristics of NAT internationally in 2019 and provide insights into confirmatory testing approaches used for NAT-yields, potentially benefitting blood operators seeking to implement NAT.

Keywords: NAT; transfusion safety; virus.

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References

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