The Australian Red Cross Blood Service (Blood Service) currently performs infectious disease screening using a combination of serological methods for HIV, HBV, HCV, HTLV and syphilis, and nucleic acid testing (NAT) for HIV-1 and HCV.
This year, we are replacing the current semi-automated NAT system and duplex assay (Procleix HIV-1/HCV Assay) with a fully automated testing system (Procleix Tigris) and a new triplex assay for the simultaneous detection of HIV-1 RNA, HCV RNA and HBV DNA (Procleix Ultrio Assay).
We will be introducing uniform individual donation testing in all five of our NAT sites. This is now possible due to the high level of automation offered by the new testing platform.
This change is consistent with international best practice for NAT screening of blood donations; will significantly improve laboratory process control; and will provide the opportunity to further improve the quality and safety of the Australian blood supply—benefiting both blood product recipients and blood donors.
From early September 2010, all red cells and platelets supplied by the Blood Service will have been tested for HBV DNA using the NAT triplex assay.
As frozen clinical plasma (ie, fresh frozen plasma, cryoprecipitate and cryodepleted plasma) have a longer shelf-life, management of these components during the transition period will be more complex.
However, we also aim to be able to supply only HBV NAT tested clinical plasma components from early September and we are implementing a number of strategies to facilitate this.
We advise Approved Health Providers (AHPs) to review your current inventory holdings of clinical plasma components, as well as your inventory management practices, to enable a more rapid turnover of product during the transition period.
It is recommended that AHPs hold a maximum of two months' supply of clinical plasma in the lead-up to the commencement of HBV NAT testing.
It should be noted that the Blood Service inventory holdings of clinical plasma will be increased during this period to compensate for the reduced AHP stock holdings.
There will be changes to external services agreements for clients who order NAT testing from the Blood Service. Our Research and Development department looks after these contracts and will be making contact with you as we move closer to making the change.
If you have any questions about the changes to NAT testing and the safety of products, please contact the Blood Service.
For more information, read the frequently asked questions about nucleic acid testing for HBV.
