A Journal Critique

By: Diones John Pallones

Authors: R. Raj Bharath and Veeran Krishnan

Article: A study in the seroprevalence of hepatitis B core antibody and other transfusion
transmitted infections in blood donors
Journal: International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences; Bharath RR et al. Int J Res Med
Sci. 2016 Jun;4(6):2337-2340

The title of the article is appropriate but should have at least stated the population being
researched more thorough because it looks like they researched in a global level. The abstract is
well written and definitely points out in a very brief statement what this research is all about (and
you can find the population here).

The purpose of the research is found both on the abstract (vaguely) and in the
introduction and it definitely challenges the current standard screening method of detecting
Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg) wherein it may not but detectable during the window
period and suggests the detection of anti-Hepatitis B core Antigen (anti- HBC) to be included in
the screening tests for Hepatitis B. The researchers also did well on interpreting the facts and
making the study concise and on point. The researchers are objective and they did describe
experimental methods adequately. The procedures are also presented in enough detail for
duplication.

The study was well written but there are already many researches that suggest the use of
anti-HBC in the screening method including the sources of this study and the only difference is
the method used. This makes the study a little less relevant but because they used another
method the researchers should have just compared the efficiency of their method that the other
screening methods used in other studies and make the study more interesting.

Citation:
Bharath RR, Krishnan V. A study in the seroprevalence of hepatitis B core antibody and other
transfusion transmitted infections in blood donors. Int J Res Med Sci 2016;4:2337-40.