Hepatitis B Viral load

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Hepatitis B Viral load
Short Description : Hepatitis B PCR
Also known as : [Hepatitis B PCR]

Blood
Test performed by: LabPLUS VIM Molecular Diagnostics

Relevant clinical details MUST be written on the request form otherwise the test will be declined.

Specimens from the following clinical areas/situations will be accepted:

Gastroenterology
Liver units
Infectious diseases
Sexual Health
Follow-on testing for patients with confirmed chronic HBV infection in order to aid treatment decisions (note: diagnosis of HBV infection should be with HBV serology),
Viral load monitoring in a patient with confirmed chronic HBV, either prior to commencing antiviral treatment or when on antiviral treatment (6 monthly initially then 12 monthly when established on treatment)
Bone marrow transplant (BMT) donor screening
Other clinical details that justify HBV Viral Load testing
Requests for immigration purposes

A dedicated specimen (i.e. no other tests to be performed) is required for this assay.

Do not use heparin tubes

Viral load results may be adversely affected by delay in transport.

Specimen Collection
All micro collects MUST be EDTA.

2 mL Paediatric Micro-EDTA Whole Blood (Always Required)
Must be dedicated sample ie. no other testing required.
4 full microcollect EDTA tubes required.

Must be full containers or there will be insufficient sample to assay

5 mL PPT Blood (Preferred)
Do not freeze unseparated PPT tubes . If the specimen requires freezing, the supernatant must be removed from the gel first.
Require a dedicated PPT or EDTA tube specimen (no other tests requested).

Transport at 2 - 8 degrees C if transport time from collection is less than 5 days.

Specimens need to be separated and frozen after 5 days. Unseparated specimens are unsuitable for analysis after this time.

4 mL EDTA Blood
Require a dedicated EDTA tube specimen (no other tests requested).
Transport at 2 - 8 degrees C if transport time from collection is less than 72 hours. Transport frozen if more than 72 hours.

Hepatitis B virus mutation detection can be performed on this specimen.

4 mL Plain Blood
8.5 mL SST Blood
Absolute minimum volume required is 3.5 mL

Require a dedicated SST tube specimen (no other tests requested).

Centrifuge SST tube within 24 hours of collection.
Transport at 2 - 8 degrees C if transport time from collection is less than 72 hours. Transport frozen if more than 72 hours.
Hepatitis B virus mutation detection can be performed on this specimen.

Turnaround Time: Between 5 days and 1 week
Assay Method

Testing is performed using the Roche cobas 6800 HBV test.

Either 650uL or 350uL of specimen can be used for testing. Limit of detection for this assay is 10-1.00 +E09 (log 1.0-9.0) HBV DNA IU/mL when 650uL and 25-1.00 +E09 (log 1.4-9.0) HBV DNA IU/mL when 350uL of specimen are used.

One HBV IU is equivalent to 5.82 HBV DNA copies.

Note: Results are expressed both as the number of HBV DNA IU/mL and also as the logarithm of the number of HBV DNA IU/mL.



Specimen Transport Instructions for Referring Laboratories
Require a dedicated PPT or EDTA tube specimen (no other tests requested).

        Whole blood in PPT can remain unspun in PPT tubes for no longer than 6hrs at ambient temperature
        Within 6 hrs of collection, the tube must be spun at 1100 x g for 20min
        On the arrival of PPT tube in virus laboratory, re-centrifuge the PPT tube at 600 x g for 5 minutes prior to aliquoting plasma to the storage tube for further storage in -70 ^o C.
        If testing is performed within 5 days, the sample should be stored at 4 ^o C.
        If the volume of plasma is less than required amount, transfer collected plasma to a conical microfuge tube prior to 600 x g centrifugation for 5 minutes. Recover remaining plasma without disturbing the pellet.

Tissue
Test performed by: LabPLUS VIM Molecular Diagnostics

Fresh liver biopsy

Contact Information
For further information contact the laboratory (contact via Lablink: 22000 or (09) 307-8995 or 0800 522 7587) ,or:
the Virology team virology@adhb.govt.nz

Last updated at 15:23:22 17/09/2021