title: Comparative evaluation and practical importance of instrument-free HIV-1 antibody screening assays.
abstract: Four instrument-free, visually read assays for detection of HIV-1 antibody were evaluated using 1,133 serum specimens from blood donors and patients in a rural hospital in Northern Zaire. Sensitivity for the four assays ranged from 85.9% to 95.0% and specificity ranged from 88.5% to 98.6%. Problems were caused by uninterpretable results in the range of 2.8% to 7.8%, decreasing somewhat the value of those systems. Based on our results, practicability and costs of the assays, we propose a hierarchy for testing for blood donors and for diagnosis of AIDS, adapted for hospitals in tropical countries.
authors.affiliation: Hôpital Présidentiel, Gbadolite, Zaïre.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Strecker
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gürtler
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Binibangili
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Metzner-Hoffmann
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Strecker
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D001782:Blood Donors; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007158:Immunologic Techniques; D011300:Preoperative Care; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D015483:HIV Antibodies