New Test Detects Both Parvovirus B19 and Hepatitis A in Plasma

A CE-marked molecular duplex test, for use on Cobas 6800/8800 systems, helps increase safety of human blood and plasma products by simultaneous screening for parvovirus B19 (B19V) and hepatitis A virus (HAV).

Nucleic acid amplification testing (NAT) enables detection of active viral infections earlier than conventional immunoassays. Roche (Basel, Switzerland) now offers the “cobas DPX” real-time PCR test for use on its cobas 6800/8800 systems, expanding the menu of these latest diagnostic platforms with next-generation donor-screening assays.

“Roche is committed to providing the broadest coverage and most efficient blood and plasma screening tests to ensure the highest safety for patients,” said Paul Brown, head of Roche Molecular Diagnostics, “Introducing cobas DPX to the cobas 6800/8800 Systems is an important step toward that goal, complementing our current donor-screening tests for the detection of HIV, HCV, HBV, WNV and HEV.” Performing NAT with cobas DPX increases the processing efficiency of donations while preserving high safety standards for plasma products. Cobas DPX enables blood and plasma testing centers to quickly identify and remove HAV-contaminated units, while simultaneously minimizing the B19V burden in plasma pools.

The cobas 6800 and 8800 systems (medium and high throughput models, respectively) are automated solutions designed for more efficient blood-donor screening, viral load monitoring, women’s health and microbiology testing. Both systems enable long “work-away” (minimal user-interaction) times, and allow for mixed batching, enabling up to three tests in the same run with no pre-sorting required.

cobas DPX and cobas 6800/8800 systems are available where the CE-marking is recognized.

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