Comparative study of two fourth-generation Hepatitis C screening ELISAs in blood transfusion in Ouagadougou: Monolisa™ HCV Ag-Ab ULTRA V2 (Bio-Rad) and Murex HCV Ag/Ab Combination (DiaSorin)

Safety of blood products is a global health priority. The aim of this study was to contribute to improve microbiological safety of blood products in Burkina Faso. Voluntary donors’ blood sera collected at Ouagadougou Regional Blood Transfusion Center were tested by the MonolisaTM HCV Ag-Ab ULTRA V2 assay (Bio-Rad) and Murex HCV Ag / Ab Combination assay (DiaSorin). The analytical performances of the two kits were compared. The sensitivity and specificity of Murex were evaluated using the MonolisaTM HCV Ag-Ab ULTRA V2 assay (Bio-Rad) as a reference. The differences were considered statistically significant for any value of p <0.05. A total of 453 non-repetitive blood donations were tested in both kits. The detection rate of HCV markers by the MonolisaTM HCV Ag-Ab assay was 4.19% versus 5.52% for Murex HCV Ag / Ab. The difference in the detection of HCV markers between the two kits was not statistically significant (p = 0.08). The overall detection rate was 9.05%. The sensitivity was 15.8% and the specificity was 94.93%. The detection rate of HCV markers by the Murex HCV Ag / Ab Combination assay (DiaSorin) was higher than the MonolisaTM HCV Ag-Ab ULTRA V2 (Bio-Rad) one, but this difference was not statistically significant. However, the combination of these two kits in blood transfusion gave a higher detection rate (9.05%) and will provide more secure blood products.