The NAT Plus kit, developed and produced by the Institute of Technology in Immunobiologicals (Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz), whose implementation began in November 2022, detected a blood bag infected with malaria this week at the blood center in Rio de Janeiro. Since December 2022, when the product began to be implanted in the Brazilian blood network, 12 blood bags infected by the pathogen have already been found, 6 of them in the North Region, 2 in the Northeast and 4 in the Southeast, all from Rio de Janeiro, an area considered non-endemic. As each bag can reach up to 4 people, the discovery may have prevented 48 blood recipients from becoming infected. The NAT Plus kit, which has already tested more than 500,000 blood bags since its implementation, also detects HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, which, according to Fiocruz, brings more safety to blood transfusions and allows for a reduction from 12 months to 1 month of the period of impediment to blood donation by people who have been in endemic areas for malaria. In addition, its use is also indicated for samples from organ donors or deceased donors in cardiac arrest, expanding protection in transplants. The product’s differential, in relation to kits from the private network, is that only it is sensitive to the malaria target, which, according to the scientific specialist in Molecular Diagnosis from Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz, Patricia Alvarez, is very important, especially since the cases found in Rio de Janeiro were asymptomatic. “The gain is greater, as tests for malaria have not been implemented in non-endemic areas, so often the disease is in that region without anyone knowing about its circulation”, she said, in a note. She explains that outside the regions considered endemic, because there is no routine testing, the blood donor can be considered fit, even infected. “Sometimes it happens that you have an infection that is not detected by the thick smear test, RT or anamnesis, and the molecular diagnosis adds to all these actions so that the recipient has the necessary security”, stated the researcher. The president of Fiocruz, Mario Moreira, highlighted that, with the detection of the malaria target, the NAT Plus kit offered by the Unified Health System is the most complete and safe one that can be found on the market today. “We are bringing yet another innovation to the SUS. NAT Plus is keeping pace with new trends in molecular diagnostics and bringing state-of-the-art technology to blood banks that increases transfusion safety. In addition, the technology used in the NAT Plus kit also opens up the possibility of incorporating new targets in the future, according to the demand of the Ministry of Health”, he explained. The NAT kit The first generation of the Brazilian NAT kit has been offered since 2011, detecting HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. The implementation of the NAT Plus is expected to be completed by 2024, with the availability of the kit and the equipment platform in the 14 public blood centers in Brazil.
Agência Brasil
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