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| Genetic
Testing Will Make Blood Supply Safer This week, in an effort to increase the safety of the nation's blood supply, blood banks across the country will begin using a sophisticated new genetic test designed to detect viral infections in their very early stages. The test, called nucleic acid testing (NAT), is able to detect small amounts of a virus before the blood donor's body has even recognized there is an infection. Currently, blood testing relies on detecting antibodies, molecules that fight infection. But antibodies do not develop until the infection spreads. NAT will be used at first to detect HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and hepatitis C. Health experts also say if a new virus sneaks into the blood supply, such as AIDS did two decades ago, NAT will catch it. The government has not yet mandated NAT, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is strongly encouraging blood banks to begin genetic testing, and encouraging hospitals to use NAT-screened blood. Health experts say NAT will eliminate a few cases of HIV-donated blood and prevent 84 annual cases of hepatitis C transmission through donated blood. |
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