The responses to potential TTIs have advanced remarkably in terms of speed of assessment and implementation and efficacy of interventions. Jatin Mahajan, MD, J Mitra & Company and Secretary, Association of Diagnostics Manufacturers of India (ADMI) reveals more
Modern healthcare management has made tremendous advancements. Consequently, almost all diseases and ailments can be treated entirely or managed with the help of modern medicine and therapeutics. Present-day healthcare also depends on invasive surgical therapeutics to manage the diseases. Surgical therapeutics invariably demand blood transfusion.
A blood transfusion is a regular medical procedure. This potentially life-saving procedure can help replace blood
lost due to surgery or injury. A blood transfusion also can help if an illness prevents your body from making blood or some of your blood’s components correctly. A blood transfusion is critical if one has certain medical conditions, including anaemia, haemophilia, sickle cell disease, or some forms of cancer. Blood has several components critical during a medical procedure – red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma, and platelets. Blood transfusion can save your life, and it is generally safe and without risks, subject to certain precautions while collecting the blood during donation.
This is where modern diagnostics play a very critical role. Diagnostics are the first line of defence. First, diagnostics help find the right cause for the ailment or the disease. Secondly, diagnostics help prevent the transfer of infections from one person to another through blood transfusion.
Transfusion Transmitted Infections (TTIs) are a real threat, and modern diagnostics endeavours to ensure that this threat is minimal, if not wholly absent. Common Transfusion Transmissible infections include – Malaria, Chikungunya, Dengue, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis E, Syphilis, and HIV. In India, it is compulsory to test every unit of blood for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV/ AIDS, syphilis, and malaria. All blood banks are licensed by the State Drug Controller and approved by the Drugs Controller General. In addition, the National Blood Transfusion Council, under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, controls-manages-regulates the entire Blood donation / Blood transfusion scenario in India. Since the 1970s, serological assays
that target virus-specific antigens and antibodies have played a key role in detecting blood donations infected
with the classic transfusion-transmitted infectious agents.
Blood-transfusion therapy is integral to the management of diverse haematological and other diseases. Therefore, preventing transfusion-transmitted infectious agents (TTIs) remains a crucial element of blood- transfusion safety. Attributes of TTIs that pose the most significant risk to blood safety include a symptomless infectious phase in the donor blood and the capability to continue despite processing and storage.
The responses to potential TTIs have advanced remarkably in terms of speed of assessment and implementation and efficacy of interventions. And yet, it continues to be constrained by the need to balance blood availability, cost, and safety.
Laboratory screening of blood donors for the classic TTIs has evolved from the performance of progressively more sensitive serological assays in the 1970s to the 1990s to the adoption of NAT.
As a critical player in the global in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) space, we are conscious of our responsibility to curb
the risks of such TTIs. We are doing our best to develop better and faster diagnostics solutions to cater to the market’s demands and provide the best possible solutions, even in the most resource-scarce settings.
