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 nonrepetitive
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.

HCV, Monolisa™ HCV Ag-Ab ULTRA V2 (Bio- Rad), Murex HCV Ag / Ab Combination (DiaSorin)