title: Predicting perinatal human immunodeficiency virus infection by antibody patterns.
abstract: The evolution of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) antibody titers determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay between birth and 18 months of age was investigated in 118 babies born to HIV-1-seropositive South African mothers. By 18 months 41 (34.7%) children were diagnosed as HIV-1-infected by standard criteria. All 77 uninfected babies cleared maternal antibodies by 15 months; 94.5% of these babies seroreverted by 12 months. By 9 months of age a significant difference (P < 0.05) was noted between antibody decay rates in infected and uninfected children. Of the children subsequently shown to be uninfected, 95.8% demonstrated > or = 50% decay in antibody titers between 6 and 9 months; only 1 in the infected group showed a similar pattern (sensitivity, 97.8%; specificity, 93.8%). The approach of assessing the progression of antibody decay in infected and uninfected babies makes it a feasible and useful tool for estimating vertical transmission rates and diagnosis of perinatal HIV-1 infection earlier than standard practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Natal, Durban, South Africa.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moodley
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bobat
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Coutsoudis
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Coovadia
mesh_terms: D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis; D017668:Age of Onset; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015483:HIV Antibodies