Surat: Surat Raktdan Kendra and Research Centre (SRKRC) has upgraded its Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) system, further strengthening the safety of blood supplied to patients. NAT is an advanced screening method that can detect infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C much earlier than conventional ELISA testing.SRKRC officials explained that ELISA tests can fail to detect infections during the “window period” — the phase when the body has not yet produced sufficient antibodies or antigens. “NAT overcomes this limitation by detecting the genetic material of viruses, allowing for earlier and more accurate identification and ensuring infected blood is not issued for transfusion,” an official said.The centre conducts NAT testing on every blood donation, with the shorter detection window providing an additional layer of safety for patients dependent on blood transfusions.“Our centre earlier had a manual NAT testing facility. It has now been upgraded to a fully automated system,” an official added.So far, SRKRC has conducted NAT testing on 3,49,118 blood donations that had tested negative through ELISA. Of these, 117 donations were found to be NAT-positive, indicating infections that ELISA testing failed to detect. Since each blood donation is separated into three components — packed red blood cells, fresh frozen plasma, and platelet concentrate — meant for different patients, the NAT screening helped prevent at least 351 patients from receiving infected blood.
