The National Instituteof Hematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT) today announced itwould officially apply nucleic acid testing (NAT) in the blood screeningprocess.

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Blood screening through NAT techniques at a laboratory at the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion in Hanoi.

NAT techniques will reduce the risk of HIV, hepatitisinfections and increase safety in blood transfusions.

Institute director Nguyen Anh Tri said NAT techniqueswould help shorten the window periods in HIV, Hepatitis B virus (HBV) andHepatitis C virus (HCV) detection.

“It helps detect the HCV virus after 30-40 days ofexposure (down from 90 days). The HBV virus can be detected in 20-30 days(saving 30 days) and the HIV virus can be detected in 11 days (saving 11days),” Tri said.

“NAT technique helps provide accurate results andcontributes to shortening the window periods in virus detection. The techniquewill ensure blood transfusion safety and provide a timely and safe blood sourceto hospitals,” the institute’s director said.

The director said NIHBT was the first medical facility inVietnam to provide all blood products screened by NAT techniques in 2015. Thetechnique was also applied at the HCM City Haematology and Blood Transfusionand the Cho Ray and Can Tho hospitals in the south.

In 2018, NAT techniques will be expanded to all hospitalsand medical units nationwide that receive donated blood to ensure a safe bloodsource for the entire population.

The institute’s statistics revealed Vietnam received over1.16 million units of blood from donors in 2015. NAT techniques helpeddetect 442 infected samples from among nearly 418,000 samples that showednegative results through serological techniques.