External quality assessment for dual detection of HBsAg and anti-HCV in serum

Hepatitis is a worldwide health problem leading to liver dysfunction, hepatocellular cirrhosis and carcinoma. Hepatitis B caused by the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is known as a silent disease. Children infected with HBV often have no symptoms, making it difficult to monitor this population. Vietnam is a country with high rates of HBV and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Many people who have been infected with HBV and HCV without symptoms for a long time. They even do not know that they got infected, and this may risk infecting others. Therefore, HBV and HCV infection screening to prevent infection and disease progression is essential. Currently, HBsAg and anti-HCV assays have been performed in most laboratories using a variety of analytical methods with different biological products for HBV and HCV screening such as rapid tests (RTs), electroluminescence immunoassay (ECLIAs, chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Rapid test is a rapid chromatographic immunoassay for the detection of HBV and HCV in serum or plasma samples. Electroluminescence (ECL) assay is a technique for converting electrical energy into radiant energy called luminescence. Immunoassays (IAs) are analytical methods based on the antigen-antibody reactions for quantitative or qualitative analysis. The sensitivity and specificity of the ECLIA technique for the anti-HCV detection were 100% and 99.8%, respectively. ELISA is a labeled immunoassay and less sensitive than ECLIAs for HBsAg detection (73% compared to 100%). CLIA is an immunoassay technique using