Efficacies of US Food and Drug Administration-licensed HIV-1-screening enzyme immunoassays for detecting antibodies to HIV-2.
To determine the efficacy of enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) for antibodies against HIV-1 in detecting HIV-2-infected blood, we tested 55 HIV-2-positive sera with seven Food and Drug Administration-licensed EIA kits. The percentage detection of HIV-2 sera giving positive reactions with these kits varied between the various manufacturers from 60 to 91%. Observations based on a small number of sera (n = 13), suggest that HIV-2-positive blood collected from apparently healthy people (blood donors, prenatal clinics) are detected with a greater frequency (means = 89%) than blood from AIDS patients or patients (n = 32) hospitalized with other infectious diseases (means = 72%). Based on these results and the low incidence of HIV-2 infection observed in the USA, it was concluded that screening with HIV-2-specific tests would not significantly increase the number of HIV-2-positive people detected by current screening programs. However, due to the poor sensitivity of certain HIV-1 assays for HIV-2 antibodies, HIV-2 sera without cross-reacting antibodies will escape detection. Surveillance for HIV-2 might then be improved by the availability of HIV-1 and HIV-2 combination assays.
George
J R
JR
HIV/AIDS Division, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA 30333.
Rayfield
M A
MA
Phillips
S
S
Heyward
W L
WL
Krebs
J W
JW
Odehouri
K
K
Soudre
R
R
De Cock
K M
KM
Schochetman
G
G
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001782:Blood Donors; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000592:standards*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000175:diagnosis; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology*; D015498:HIV-2 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008004:Licensure; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration
D015483:HIV Antibodies; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic