Shija Hospitals And Research Institute Adds Another First
State of the Art ANAT installed at Shija
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, February 06 2013:
The Automated Nucleic Acid Amplification Technology, the first of its kind in Eastern India was installed at Shija Blood Bank and Transfusion Services, a PPP model blood bank funded by NEC, Shillong and Govt of Manipur today.
According to a statement issued by the Assistant General Manager-BD of SHRI, screening of donor blood with Nucleic Acid Technology (NAT) has brought a new revolution in the testing of infectious disease in the modern blood banking in aiding early diagnosis of HIV, Hepatitis B and C .
The current conventional test procedures such as ELISA identify the deadly viruses only after a period of 30 to 90 days post infection.
Thus unknowingly, there are chances of transfusing the infected blood to the patients during the window period.
|
However, the advanced NAT test helps to directly detect the DNA/RNA of the viruses within 6-8 days, thus helping bridge the window period and greatly reducing the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections.
The fully automated US-FDA approved, NAT blood screening system at Shija Hospital blood bank can reduce chances of human errors and also facilitate testing of a huge number of samples at one go with great ease, the statement said.
The Shija Blood Bank and Transfusion Services also offers Blood Components including Leucodepleted Blood which is ideal for paediatric and kidney patients.