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KMID : 0387720070180010015
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Korean Journal of Blood Transfusion
2007 Volume.18 No. 1 p.15 ~ p.22
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Characteristics and Follow-up Results of the Window Period Blood Donors for Hepatitis C Virus
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Kang Jae-Won
Lee Jae-Sook
Seo Dong-Hee
Huh Kwang
Park Qu-Ehn
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Abstract
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Background: To improve the safety of the blood supply in Korea, nucleic acid amplification testing (NAT) for HCV and HIV-1 as a blood screening test has been used by the Korean Red Cross since February 1st, 2005. Until October 31st 2006, a total of 4,037,618 donor samples had been tested and 436 cases showed reactivity for HCV RNA. Only 10 of these cases showed serologically negative antibody results.
Method: We investigated the characteristics and the follow-up results of the ten donors who showed HCV RNA reactivity and serologically negative results.
Results:All the ten donors were identified to be "window period" blood donors with confirmation of their seroconversion by follow-up testing. The average RNA titer of the donors was 9.21?106 IU/mL. Five donors showed high levels of ALT. One donor showed the reversed pattern on the test results for antibody and RNA.
Conclusions:By detecting five cases of HCV "window period" infection, NAT has increased the safety of the Korean blood supply. But it is considered that NAT can not be a substitute serological test and an adequate follow-up strategy is required for verification of the accurate seroconversion time.
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KEYWORD
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NAT, HCV, Follow-up test
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