RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Diagnosing acute HIV infection at point of care: a retrospective analysis of the sensitivity and specificity of a fourth-generation point-of-care test for detection of HIV core protein p24
JF Sexually Transmitted Infections
JO Sex Transm Infect
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 100
OP 101
DO 10.1136/sextrans-2015-052491
VO 93
IS 2
A1 Naomi Fitzgerald
A1 Maria Cross
A1 Siobhan O'Shea
A1 Julie Fox
YR 2017
UL http://sti.bmj.com/content/93/2/100.abstract
AB Objectives Detection of acute HIV infection is vital in preventing onward transmission. HIV point-of-care testing (POCT) has improved uptake of HIV testing but has been limited to third-generation assays, which only detect chronic HIV infection. Previous evaluation of the fourth-generation Alere Determine HIV-1/2 Ag/Ab Combo POCT showed only 50% sensitivity for HIV core protein p24 (p24 antigen) detection, which is suboptimal for diagnosis of acute HIV infection with limited advantage over third-generation POCT. We aimed to assess the sensitivity of the new Alere HIV Combo POCT to detect acute HIV infection.Methods Stored samples in samples already identified as p24-positive using standard-of-care fourth-generation assays were randomly selected alongside groups of antibody-positive samples and HIV-negative samples. Each sample was tested using the new Alere POCT according to manufacturer's instructions. Sensitivity and specificity were then calculated.Results The Alere HIV Combo POCT test demonstrated 88% sensitivity 95% CI (78% to 98%) and 100% specificity 95% CI (99.7% to 100%) for detection of p24 antigen.Conclusions This new POCT shows improved sensitivity for detection of p24 antigen and may be of value for clinical use in detecting acute HIV infection. Further evaluation of its use in a clinical setting is still required.