A high antibody level (S/CO ratio >/=20 by ChLIA HCV) clearly divides the viremic from the nonviremic blood donors and functions as an accurate serologic marker to guide the use of routine HCV RNA testing to confirm hepatitis C infection.

A highly significant intraassay correlation between anti-HCV duplicates was found. Specimens with a single reactive anti-HCV result with the Abbott third-generation HCV MEIA, Ortho third-generation HCV ChLIA, and Abbott third-generation HCV ChLIA assays should be considered as positive and need not be retested. Such a change in the algorithm for blood donor screening is feasible because of the availability of highly automated platforms.