Comparison of overall cost of plasma separation card with that of plasma preparation tube.

For Hepatitis C Virus Ribonucleic Acid (HCVRNA) testing, blood has to be collected in plasma preparation tubes (PPT), centrifuged, refrigerated, and transported in cold chain. All these steps are time consuming and add to the testing cost. Plasma separation card (PSC) does not need any such steps. The present study was conducted to compare the cost of preparation and transportation of the PSC with that of PPT for the detection of HCVRNA. Blood samples from 100 HCV cases from one union council of Khairpur were collected in PPTs and also spotted on the PSCs and sent to the programme laboratory in Karachi (500 km distance) for HCVRNA testing. The cost for each step for PPT and PSC was taken into account. The preparation and transportation of PSC was noted to be much easier and 50% more cost effective than that of PPT.