Correlation between hepatitis b core antibodies test with hepatitis b surface antigen

The Hepatitis B core antibody screened in various blood banks in India to attractive the safety of blood transfusion. However, In India, HBcAb is not a mandatory test as per Drug and Cosmetic Act, 1940. Now a day, HBcAbIgM and IgG testing have been adopted for routine screening but it leads to increased cost of transfused blood. Therefore, this study was carried out to look into the possibility of obviating the need of screening of HBcAb testing is necessary or not, so as to optimize the resource utilization and reduce the cost without compromising the blood safety. Aim: To find out the agreement of Hepatitis B core antibody test with HBsAg. Methods: Screening results were evaluated for HBV by immunoassay, HBsAg & Anti-HBcAbIgM and IgG. Initial reactive samples were confirmed by ID-NAT (TMA) discriminatory HBV assay. Results: Value of kappa indicates that there is no significant agreement between HBcAb and HBsAg. The diagnostic accuracy of HBcAb is very bad (8.26%) when compared with HBsAg. However, the sensitivity of the test is good (85.71%). Conclusion: The value of Kappa indicates that there is no significant agreement between HBcAb and ID-NAT with HBsAg. In fact the HB core antibody IgM can enhance the blood safety. The facility for HBV core total screening is same as that of HBsAg, HIV & HCV, whereas, HBcAb is capital extensive but give help to extra safety of blood.