HIV
MinireviewBringing HIV Self-Testing to Scale in the United States: a Review of Challenges, Potential Solutions, and Future OpportunitiesHIV self-testing (HIVST) provides an at-home option to counter the barriers that patients face with testing performed in health care settings. HIVST has gradually increased in popularity in a time when social media and technology-based solutions are preferred. In this paper, we consider the aspects of self-testing that merit its integration into HIV testing and prevention systems in the United States.
ImmunoassaysEvaluation of the Bio-Rad Geenius HIV 1/2 Assay as Part of a Confirmatory HIV Testing Strategy for Quebec, Canada: Comparison with Western Blot and Inno-Lia AssaysThe rapid confirmatory Bio-Rad Geenius HIV 1/2 assay was evaluated as an alternative to the HIV-1 Western blot (WB) confirmatory assay. A total of 370 retrospective samples collected from 356 patients were tested.
ImmunoassaysPerformance of a Novel Low-Cost, Instrument-Free Plasma Separation Device for HIV Viral Load Quantification and Determination of Treatment Failure in People Living with HIV in Malaysia: a Diagnostic Accuracy StudyHIV viral load (VL) testing is the recommended method for monitoring the response of people living with HIV and receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). The availability of standard plasma VL testing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and access to this testing, are limited by the need to use fresh plasma.
VirologySeparation of Plasma from Whole Blood by Use of the cobas Plasma Separation Card: a Compelling Alternative to Dried Blood Spots for Quantification of HIV-1 Viral LoadPlasma HIV viral load testing is the preferred means of monitoring antiretroviral treatment response. Dried blood spots (DBSs) hold considerable logistical advantages over EDTA samples, but they more frequently misclassify virological failure and have higher limits of detection (LoD).
ImmunoassaysField Performance and Diagnostic Accuracy of a Low-Cost Instrument-Free Point-of-Care CD4 Test (Visitect CD4) Performed by Different Health Worker Cadres among Pregnant WomenMeasuring CD4 counts remains an important component of HIV care. The Visitect CD4 is the first instrument-free low-cost point-of-care CD4 test with results interpreted visually after 40 min, providing a result of ≥350 CD4 cells/mm3.
VirologyQuantitation of Integrated HIV Provirus by Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis and Droplet Digital PCRWe utilized pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to purify high-molecular-weight DNA from HIV-infected cells. This purification, in combination with our previously described droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) assay, was used to develop a method to quantify proviral integrated HIV DNA free of lower-molecular-weight species of HIV DNA.
VirologyLimited Marginal Utility of Deep Sequencing for HIV Drug Resistance Testing in the Age of Integrase InhibitorsHIV drug resistance genotyping is a critical tool in the clinical management of HIV infections. Although resistance genotyping has traditionally been conducted using Sanger sequencing, next-generation sequencing (NGS) is emerging as a powerful tool due to its ability to detect low-frequency alleles.
VirologyMulticenter Evaluation of Two Next-Generation HIV-1 Quantitation Assays, Aptima Quant Dx and Cobas 6800, in Comparison to the RealTime HIV-1 Reference AssayHigh accuracy and precision at the lower end of quantification are crucial requirements of a modern HIV viral load (VL) assay, since some clinically relevant thresholds are located at 50 and 200 copies/ml. In this study, we compared the performance of two new fully automated HIV-1 VL assays, Aptima HIV-1 Quant Dx and Cobas HIV-1 (Cobas 6800), with the established RealTime m2000 assay.
