Concordance of human immunodeficiency virus detection by polymerase chain reaction and by serologic assays in a Dutch cohort of seronegative homosexual men.
In three subgroups of a clinically and socially well defined group of Dutch homosexual men, the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) sequences in seronegative blood samples was studied using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In 19 seronegative partners of seropositive persons, no HIV-1 sequences were found by PCR in either early (1984/1985) or more recent (1987) samples. In 42 seronegative persons selected by their high risk for HIV-1 infection, none harbored HIV-1 sequences in either early (1985/1986) or late (1989) samples. In 15 people who seroconverted for HIV-1, only 2 samples collected 3 months before seroconversion were PCR-positive. These persons were also HIV antigen-positive at this time. These data suggest that a latent infection greater than 6 months does not occur and that the combination of HIV antibody and HIV antigen tests is appropriate and conclusive in most cases of HIV-1 infection.
Bruisten
S M
SM
Central Laboratory of the Netherlands Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, Amsterdam.
Koppelman
M H
MH
Dekker
J T
JT
Bakker
M
M
de Goede
R E
RE
Roos
M T
MT
de Wolf
F
F
Coutinho
R A
RA
Goudsmit
J
J
Huisman
H G
HG
D001483:Base Sequence; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004279:DNA, Viral; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006679:HIV Seropositivity; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006716:Homosexuality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
D004279:DNA, Viral