Automated Tests Screen Blood for Hepatitis

Hepatitis surface antigen (HBsAg) and HBsAg confirmatory tests are used to screen donated blood for hepatitis.

The Prism system produced by Abbott (Abbott Park, Il, USA), together with the hepatitis B test, Prism HB core, were recently cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Additional hepatitis and retrovirus tests are currently under FDA review.

Already in use in 30 countries, the Prism system consolidates testing into a single system, automating many of the manual testing procedures and steps currently used for screening blood. Safety measures built into the system help to track and monitor each sample through the testing process, providing documentation and quality control for testing facilities. The Prism system can run 160 samples per hour, making it possible to test more than 1,200 samples in an eight-hour shift.

According to the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), 8 million volunteers donate about 15 million units of blood each year. Each donated unit of blood is tested for infectious diseases including hepatitis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and other retroviruses.

"We continue to focus on expanding our automated hepatitis testing menus across all of our diagnostic platforms,” said Don Patton, vice president of Abbott's global diagnostic operations. "We also will continue to leverage our scientific enterprise and understanding of viral hepatitis in introducing new diagnostic tests to support laboratory needs in infectious disease testing.”

Abbott Diagnostics produces a wide range of instrument systems and tests for hospitals, reference labs, physicians' offices, and clinics. The global, broad-based healthcare company is devoted to the discovery, manufacture, and marketing of medical and pharmaceutical products including diagnostics, devices, and nutritionals.



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