Thiruvananthapuram: Four years have passed since a comprehensive proposal was submitted to the state government for setting up a centralised Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) facility for reducing the window period in the detection of HIV infection. The proposal was for setting up the facility at Regional Blood Transfusion Centre at Aluva blood bank. However, successive governments paid no heed to the proposal even as people became increasingly vulnerable to transfusion- transmitted infections. The proposal suggested the Karnataka model where samples from almost all government hospitals are collected daily, tested at centralised facility at NAT lab set up in Bowring Hospital, Bangalore, where one fully automated TIGRIS equipment has been installed. The results and reports are dispatched within 24 hours. Over one lakh tests are done there annually.
The funding for the project is from the directorate of health services through the state AIDS control society and billing is done per test. The logistics of collection transport and transmission of results is the responsibility of the service provider company. “If KSACS plans to take up NAT testing, the Aluva centre is ready to set up the laboratory with the resources at hand. However, we will require support for consumables. Now the Aluva centre has a blood transportation van besides funds to purchase additional vehicles for transport of blood components at the optimum temperature to any distance,” said Dr. N. Vijayakumar, chairman, IMA committee on blood banks, transfusion medicine expert, NACO & assessor, NAB.
He said there was a well-equipped government -recognised Training Centre for Blood Bank Medical Officers & Technicians, the only one of its kind in the state. Moreover, it was the only NABH blood bank in the state, he added. No additional construction or personnel is required for starting NAT testing and reporting for all government blood banks and the private ones which wish to join. Implementation of NAT can considerably help bring down the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections thereby reducing the overall infection rates and disease burden on the society.
Experts say NAT combines the advantages of direct detection of the organism with sensitivity, several orders of magnitude higher than that of traditional methods. Currently, the screening of blood for infectious markers (anti-HIV 1 and 2, anti- HCV and HBsAg) is done using government- approved test kits like ELISA or Rapid kits. NAT along with conventional serological testing can reduce this residual risk to a great extent. The cobas-s 201 system is the first multi-dye NAT screening system. It is an easy-to-use, reliable blood screening platform which is used by over 250 blood banks worldwide. The assays that run on the cobas- s 201 system are developed with safety in mind; all assays have the most comprehensive viral genotype coverage to ensure viral detection in donations, no matter where the donors reside or where they have visited.
Blood banks sweat it out
Some basic information on government blood banks in major cities with their approximate annual workload is as follows:
ThiruvananthapuramMedical College Hospital - 28,000 units per annum
Regional Cancer Centre - 23,415 units in 2010, 21,000 in 2011
Sri Chithira Thirunal Institute of Medical Science & Technology- 7000 units per annum
General Hospital- 5000 units per annum
Ernakulam
Taluk Headquarter Hospital, Aluva – 7000 unit per annum
General Hospital – 3000 units per annum
Alappuzha Medical College Hospital - 12,000 units per annum
Kottayam Medical College Hospital - 14,400 units per annum
Thrissur Medical College Hospital - 12,000 units per annum
Malappuram Taluk Headquarters Hospital, Perinthalmanna - 18,000 units per annum
Kozhikode Medical College Hospital- 18,000 units per annum
Kannur General Hospital- 5000 units per annum
