Fourth generation blood testing kits for Govt blood banks

Kolkata: Good news for patients who require blood transfusion or transfusion of blood components. The Government blood banks in Bengal are getting the latest fourth generation blood testing kits.

These kits would primarily help in the detection of HIV and hepatitis C. For the former, fourth generation Elisa testing kits would be used and for the latter, NAT, or Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing.With these latest kits HIV virus would be detected within 12 days of infection and hepatitis C virus within 15 to 18 days. Detections within these window periods are extremely crucial in starting effective treatment procedures.(UNI)