Virginia Blood Services, the agency that collects most blood donations for central Virginia, has not yet implemented a nucleic acid test (NAT) for blood products recommended four months ago by the Food and Drug Administration. Currently, NAT is not required because it is experimental and there are still questions about how to implement it throughout the country. NAT, however, is able to detect HIV before the body produces antibodies for the virus. Virginia Blood Services has been in the news lately following the discovery that a Petersburg, Va., man may have contracted HIV from a blood transfusion that used blood from the agency.

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