SRKRC NAT Testing Facilities
(The AltoStar® AM16 is CE-IVD marked)
Nucleic acid testing (NAT) is currently used in conjunction with serological tests (Hans et al., 2014) and it has reduced the risk for HIV-1 HBV and HCV where it has been implemented (Venkatakrishna et al., 2014; Mishra Kanchan et al., 2016).
SRKRC started NAT testing in 2013. To ensure safe blood transfusion practices, SRKRC follows 100% NAT testing. We are the only blood bank in Gujarat that conducts 100% NAT testing, certifying that the blood is free from HIV, Hep-B, and Hep-C viruses. NAT is the only answer for safe blood, being a molecular method for screening blood donations for HIV, Hep-B, and Hep-C viruses.
NAT detects the presence of the virus earlier in an infection than serologic methods, helping to decrease the window period of different transfusion-transmitted infections and reduce their transmission. Thus, NAT provides an additional layer of blood safety.
In India we are the first NGO Blood Bank who has started NAT in 2013 and South Gujarat we are only the blood bank doing 100% NAT testing.
- Till now at SRKRC we has screening 3,49,118 seronegative donation with NAT .
- And 117 were found to be NAT positive.
- From one pint of donated whole blood, we made at least minimum three components (red cells, platelets, plasma, cryoprecipitate) .
- These 117 units of blood would have yielded 351 components and hence 351 patients could have been infected with viruses .
