Feasibility of freeze-dried sera for serological and molecular biological detection of hepatitis B and C viruses.

We compared hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen, anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody, and HCV RNA quantification in frozen and freeze-dried serum samples to assess the usefulness of freeze-dried sera for detection of HBV and HCV. The results indicated that freeze-dried sera as well as frozen sera can be useful for serological and molecular biological analyses of HBV and HCV.