Sensitivity and specificity of dried blood spots for HIV-1 viral load quantification: A laboratory assessment of 3 commercial assays.

ABSTRACT: The use of dried blood spots (DBS) instead of plasma as a specimen type for HIV-1 viral load (VL) testing facilitates the decentralization of specimen collection and can increase access to VL testing in resource-limited settings. The performance of DBS for VL testing is lower, however, when compared to the gold standard sample type plasma. In this diagnostic accuracy study, we evaluated 3 VL assays with DBS.Participants were recruited between August 2012 and April 2015. Both plasma and DBS specimens were prepared and tested for HIV-1 VL with the Roche CAP/CTM HIV-1 test v2.0, the Abbott RealTime HIV-1, and the bioMérieux NucliSENS EasyQ HIV-1 v2.0. Sensitivity and specificity to detect treatment failure at a threshold of 1000 cps/mL with DBS were determined.A total of 272 HIV-positive pati

SUBMITTER: Pannus P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5134769 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature