title: Long-term persistence of false positive antibody reactivity in HIV western blot testing of sera from a healthy blood donor.
abstract: HIV-Western blot (WB) testing of sequential sera from a blood donor revealed identical bands in the p24 and p55 positions. Additional testing using indirect immunofluorescence antibody technique, radioimmunoprecipitation assay and an HIV p24 antigen immunoassay were negative. During a 5-year follow-up period the blood donor has remained apparently healthy and no signs of disease have developed. We conclude that sera from this blood donor show a false positive HIV WB reactivity. The nature of this reactivity remains obscure but has practical implications for the routine HIV screening of blood donors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Umeå University, Sweden.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Settergren
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Burman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gustafsson
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Juto
authors.forename: Q G
authors.initials: QG
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wadell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001782:Blood Donors; D015153:Blotting, Western; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D015488:HIV Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24; D006679:HIV Seropositivity; D006801:Humans; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012191:Retroviridae Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D015483:HIV Antibodies; D015488:HIV Antigens; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24; D012191:Retroviridae Proteins