Prayagraj: The Blood Centre at Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital (SRN) has started screening blood units using the advanced Nucleic Acid Testing-Individual Donation (NAT-ID) technology, enabling patients in the Prayagraj division to receive safer and world-class quality blood transfusion services free of cost.The Department of Transfusion Medicine has introduced the new screening system under which every unit of blood issued by the Blood Centre will undergo NAT-ID testing before being made available for transfusion. The facility was implemented from this month through an arrangement with Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow.Head of the Department of Transfusion Medicine, Prof Vatsala Mishra, said NAT-ID marks a significant advancement in blood safety as it can detect the DNA and RNA of infectious viruses at a much earlier stage than conventional methods. This substantially reduces the possibility of transfusing infected blood even during the ‘window period’ when infections may not be detected through routine screening.Until now, the Blood Centre relied on ELISA- and CLIA-based screening techniques. While these methods remain effective, NAT-ID offers an additional layer of safety by identifying viral genetic material in its early stages. The technology is capable of detecting infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C much earlier, thereby significantly lowering the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections.She added that the service has been made available entirely free of cost with the objective of ensuring that every patient receives the safest possible blood without any additional financial burden.
