Comparative evaluation and assessment of the diagnostic usefulness of four commercial HIV-1/HIV-2 antibody assays using two well-characterized serum panels from Blood Transfusion Service and the National Health Laboratory Services in Zimbabwe.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate four Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) HIV kits for possible use as a combination at the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) in Zimbabwe.


METHODS
Laboratory evaluation, sensitivity, specificity and cost effectiveness of HIV diagnostic kits.


METHODS
Blood Transfusion Service (BTS) and Parirenyatwa Hospital in Zimbabwe.


METHODS
A total of 346 samples from 245 patients referred to Parirenyatwa Hospital and 101 blood donors at BTS.


RESULTS
The main goal was to come out with the best combination of ELISA kits in terms of sensitivity, specificity and cost effectiveness for use in diagnosis of HIV infection in Zimbabwe.


RESULTS
The best combination kit was the Murex/Innotest with 100% sensitivity and 98.9% specificity, being slightly superior to the Genelavia/Vironostika combination kits in current use at NHLS. In addition, the Murex/Innotest combination has the shortest assay running time and requires fewer internal controls thereby increasing the number of test specimens per run.


CONCLUSIONS
We recommend the use of the Murex/Innotest kits as a suitable combination for HIV infection diagnosis in Zimbabwe. The combination has a relatively low number of discordant results, drastically reducing the cost of running a third confirmatory test to resolve the discordant results. Most importantly, this combination maximizes HIV infection diagnosis by its ability to detect antibodies to HIV-1 groups M and O as well as HIV-2.
Chishawa
O
O
Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, University of Zimbabwe Medical School, P O Box A 178, Avondale, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Ziyambi
Z
Z
Ndhlovu
P
P
Rusakaniko
S
S
Moyo
O
O
Zijenah
L S
LS
D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology; D015498:HIV-2 / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015030:Zimbabwe
D015483:HIV Antibodies