Dried blood spot test can detect HIV and hepatitis, researchers say
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Key takeaways:
- A single drop of blood can be used to accurately detect HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, researchers said.
- Testing can be conducted using commercials technology and supplies.
A dried blood spot test can be used to detect HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C in a single drop of blood, researchers reported at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases.
The process, which uses commercial technology already available in many hospitals, can cut down on the need to refrigerate blood samples and time to get test results back, the researchers said.
“The motivation to develop this method was to have a more practical and safer method to screen in high-risk settings such as prisons, rehabilitation centers and homeless shelters,” Stephen Nilsson-Møller, MSc, molecular biologist in the department of clinical microbiology at Herlev Hospital in Denmark, told Healio.
WHO in 2022 added HBV to a group of infectious diseases — including HIV and HCV — which it aims to eliminate worldwide by 2030. Although efforts to increase screening for all three viruses are in progress for some groups in some nations, it can be logistically challenging.
Nilsson-Møller and colleagues sought a method of screening for all three without the need for vials of blood, which need to properly transported.
Using 20 plasma samples that were positive for HCV, HBV and HIV, the researchers deposited whole blood on a protein saver card, letting it dry and then transferring it to an Aptima tube containing 2.9 mL of specimen transport medium.
The tubes were incubated at room temperature on a rocking table for 30 minutes and then centrifuged. The researchers then analyzed the samples using the Hologic Panther system with commercial Aptima assays.
The process detected a viral load in all samples. Nilsson-Møller said the test has been approved in his department in a team that includes a chief physician and a professor, and that Hologic has validated the HIV portion of the study’s findings but not the findings for HBV and HCV.
According to the study, the researchers plan to present data from both ongoing clinical tests and from validation at some point in the future.
“The test is now being [used as] part of a PhD project by Jonas Demant, who is screening in prisons, homeless shelters and rehabilitation centers in Copenhagen,” Nillson-Møller said. “There has [also] been a lot of interest, so the department is now looking to open the test so that other clinicians and physicians can order it.”
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Nilsson-Møller S., et al. Dry blood spot: A multi-diagnostic detection method for HBV, HCV and HIV using a single drop of blood. Presented at European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases; April 15-18, 2023; Copenhagen, Denmark.
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