National Institute for Biological Standards and Control/UK Blood Transfusion Service working standards for HBsAg, anti-HCV and anti-HIV-1 ('go/no-go'controls)

Background and Objectives The positive controls supplied with the commercia l kits used in the testing of blood donations for markers of viral infectio n are usually of high reactivity and do not give users a reliable indicatio n of optimal performance of the kit on a day-to-day basis. Materials and Methods The National Institute for Biological Standards and C ontrol has developed working standards for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBs Ag), anti-hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) and anti-human immunodeficiency viru s type 1 (anti-HIV-1) for the UK Blood Transfusion Services for daily use i n every test. Results Data from the use of these reagents are collated and quarterly repo rts are issued. Conclusions The centralized collation, analysis and reporting of the result s from users of working standards facilitate the continual assessment of th e responses obtained by individual laboratories, comparisons of the interla boratory performance and the performance of different manufacturers' kits a t a national level. This information complements the data on infection surv eillance and initial/repeat reactivities using the same kits.