Premium
Early diagnosis of HIV infection
Author(s) -
Devare Sushil G.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.20967
Subject(s) - seroconversion , virology , window period , antibody , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , antigen , medicine , transmission (telecommunications) , viral disease , immunology , lentivirus , hiv antigens , biology , serology , electrical engineering , engineering
Early detection of HIV infection is critical for clinical diagnosis, prevention of transmission, and safety of blood products. Currently, several HIV antigen–antibody (Ag/Ab) combination assays that simultaneously detect HIV‐1 p24 antigen, and antibodies to HIV‐1 group M, group O, and HIV‐2 are available only outside the USA, for diagnosis of viral infection. HIV Ag/Ab combination assays reduce the seroconversion window by 3–5 days relative to sensitive third‐generation HIV antibody assays and approximately 14 days relative to first‐generation antibody assays. HIV combination assays developed on several fully automated instruments provide cost‐effective means for detection of early infections. The utility of HIV combination assays to identify primary HIV infections has been demonstrated in several settings outside the USA, including in low HIV prevalence countries. J. Med. Virol. 79:S11–S15, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.