New Delhi:
At some point or the other we have all had to knock the doors of a blood bank, unfortunately though, in an emergency one does not always get the blood tested for viruses.
But now a new machine could make blood testing a whole lot safer and simpler.
It can detect the presence of harmful viruses like HIV and Hepatitis C in donated blood through the nucleic acid test.
According to NACO, 0.28 per cent of blood donors have been found to be HIV positive and 1.4 per cent have Hepatitis C.
A study conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) says the test is more accurate than the present ELISA test.
"We are working towards zero risk transmission. With nucleic acid test HIV transmission risk can be reduced from .01 per cent to 0. And Hepatitis C can be reduced from 2 to 0.6 per cent," said Dr Kabita Chatterjee, faculty in charge, AIIMS.
Twelve centres in the country have already started this test that includes some government hospitals where it's done for free.
It can help detect infections like HIV in four days compared to the nine days that an ELISA test would take. Similarly, the Hepatitis C virus can be detected in five days, compared to 65 days.
"The test cannot be mandatory at present. But we are adding this added layer of safety to the already existing ELISA test," said Veena Doda, HOD, Blood Bank, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.
But this level of safety comes for a price. Setting up the specialised lab with the machine would cost Rs 50 lakh. And the test itself costs Rs 800.
Getting the infrastructure in place may take time. But with a centralised system being set up to link blood banks across all metros soon, experts say such tests may just prove to be life saving.