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Updated: Mar 14, 2026
Dried Blood Spots - Preparing and Processing for Use in Immunoassays and in Molecular Techniques
Published on: March 13, 2015
Dried blood spots, valid screening for viral hepatitis and human immunodeficiency virus in real-life
Belinda K Mössner1, Benjamin Staugaard1, Janne Jensen1
1Belinda K Mössner, Benjamin Staugaard, Peer B Christensen, Department of Infectious Diseases, Odense University Hospital, 5000 Odense, Denmark.
Aim:
To detect chronic hepatitis B (CHB), chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in dried blood spot (DBS) and compare these samples to venous blood sampling in real-life.
Methods:
We included prospective patients with known viral infections from drug treatment centers, a prison and outpatient clinics and included blood donors as negative controls. Five drops of finger capillary blood were spotted on filter paper, and a venous blood sample was obtained. The samples were analyzed for HBsAg, anti-HBc, anti-HBs, anti-HCV, and anti-HIV levels as well as subjected to a combined nucleic acid test (NAT) for HBV DNA, HCV RNA and HIV RNA.
Results:
Samples from 404 subjects were screened (85 CHB, 116 CHC, 114 HIV and 99 blood donors). DBS had a sensitivity of > 96% and a specificity of > 98% for the detection of all three infections. NAT testing did not improve sensitivity, but correctly classified 95% of the anti-HCV-positive patients with chronic and past infections. Anti-HBc and anti-HBS showed low sensitivity in DBS (68% and 42%).
Conclusion:
DBS sampling, combined with an automated analysis system, is a feasible screening method to diagnose chronic viral hepatitis and HIV infections outside of the health care system.
