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Although the estimated risk for acquiring HIV or hepatitis C virus (HCV) from a blood transfusion is now less than 1 in 1,000,000, the risk for acquiring hepatitis B virus (HBV) in that setting remains as high as 1 in 280,000. The addition of nucleic acid testing (NAT) to the screening of blood donations has clearly reduced the risk for HIV and HCV transmission. To determine whether it might do the same for HBV, investigators (partially funded by the makers of the test kits and instruments) evaluated the use of a triplex NAT assay for all three viruses.
In 2008, the American Red Cross used such an assay, in conjunction with serologic analysis, at three of its five national testing laboratories. Among the 3,694,858 blood donations that were s…