The Specificity of Anti‐HCV Supplementary Assays

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Abstract
A total of 920 samples from blood donors screened as anti‐HCV negative by two third‐generation screening assays (Ortho Diagnostics v3.0 and Murex Diagnostics VK48) were tested by two supplementary anti‐HCV assays, RIBA III (Ortho Diagnostics) and Western blot (Murex Diagnostics VK68). Six (0.65%) of the samples gave scorable bands by RIBA III and 5 (0.54%) by Western blot. Only single‐band reactivity was seen and there was no consensus reactivity between the two assays. Single‐band reactivity in supplementary assays, especially in samples from low‐risk populations, needs to be interpreted with care before being taken as indication of genuine previous or current HCV infection.We are indebted to both Ortho Diagnostics and Murex Diagnostics for providing the resources to perform this study.