When a person donates blood to a blood bank, to ensure that his blood is safe for transfusion, his blood is tested for many diseases which are known to be transmitted by blood transfusion. Beginning in July 1992, an improved, more sensitive anti-HCV test became available and was put into use in all blood banks across the country.
Confirmatory tests are now available.
This information must be sent to the hospital transfusion services which received, issued, and transfused the units. Physicians of the patients who received such units will want to know, and, the patients who received such units must be identified and notified so that their current medical status can be evaluated. Testing for anti-HCV with the new generation reagents should be initiated to see if the recipient is now positive. There are antiviral medicines which are approved for the treatment of persons with chronic hepatitis C. Treatment is effective in about 2-3 out of every 10 persons treated. Unfortunately, that is not possible as that unit has been transfused and there is no sample left to test.