[
    {
        "id": "osp-11757",
        "type": "article-journal",
        "title": "Laboratory Diagnosis of Viral Hepatitis C: The Sultan Qaboos University Hospital experience",
        "author": [
            {
                "family": "Al Dhahry",
                "given": "Said HS"
            },
            {
                "family": "Nograles",
                "given": "Jameel C."
            },
            {
                "family": "Toqi",
                "given": "Situsekara MWWB"
            },
            {
                "family": "SS",
                "given": "Fadhila"
            },
            {
                "family": "Kaminski",
                "given": "Geraldine Z."
            }
        ],
        "URL": "https://omanscience.com/ar/articles/laboratory-diagnosis-of-viral-hepatitis-c-the-sultan-qaboos-university-hospital-experience",
        "language": "en",
        "issued": {
            "date-parts": [
                [
                    2025
                ]
            ]
        },
        "container-title": "Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal",
        "volume": "5",
        "issue": "1",
        "page": "15-20",
        "DOI": "10.18295/2075-0528.2603",
        "publisher": "Sultan Qaboos University",
        "ISSN": "2075-051X",
        "abstract": "Objectives: A retrospective study was carried out to assess the performance of hepatitis C diagnostic assays in our laboratory, and to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C among blood donors at the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital. Methods: From 1991 to 2001, approximately 55,000 serum samples collected from blood donors and patients were submitted to our laboratory for testing. All sera were screened for antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV) by three successive generations of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Anti-HCV positive sera were further tested by recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA). Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for HCV RNA was carried out on a limited number (241) of ELISA positive samples. Results: Out of 30012 samples from blood donors that were screened for anti-HCV, 272 (0.91%) were positive. Of these, 46.5% were confirmed positive by RIBA. The proportion of patient sera that were confirmed positive varied from 95% among intravenous drug users to 81% in patients with hepatitis to 70% in those with haemoglobinopathies. HCV RNA was detected in 67%, 6%, and 0% of the RIBA positive, indeterminate and negative samples respectively. Conclusions: Based on RIBA, the prevalence of anti-HCV among blood donors in Oman is close to 0.5%. In our experience, RIBA-positivity is predictive of HCV infection in two thirds of subjects, and HCV infection is highly unlikely in those who are RIBA-negative. The experience at SQUH with three types of HCV assays has enabled the laboratory to develop a test algorithm, starting with screening anti-HCV ELISA."
    }
]