title: HIV serological screening in a population of pregnant women in the Republic of Congo: suitability of different assays.
abstract: Different strategies can be applied for the screening of HIV infection, depending on the local seroprevalence. Within a WHO type III strategy, we compared the results of two different second-line methods for HIV screening of a population of pregnant women in the Republic of Congo. Sera from 3614 consecutive pregnant women were tested for HIV with Genescreen Plus Ag/Ab EIA assay; positive specimens were retested with two different second-line methods. (Determine HIV-1/2 rapid test and Vironostika HIV Ag/Ab specific EIA assay). Discordant samples were tested with HIV-1/2 Western Blot and, if necessary, HIV RNA molecular assay. Of the 3614 sera, 221 were positive with Genscreen. Among them, 21 and 10 tested negative with Vironostika and Determine, respectively. A 100% correspondence with 3rd line confirmation test results was found in Genscreen positive/Vironostika negative samples, whereas a 5.5% overestimation of HIV seroprevalence was observed when Determine, instead of Vironostika, was used as second-line test. The choice of appropriate assays in adequate sequence, within the correct WHO strategy, is pivotal to minimize the risk of overtreatment of HIV infection.
authors.affiliation: Hygiene Unit, S. Martino Hospital, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Bianca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bruzzone
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bisio
authors.forename: Agostina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ventura
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nigro
authors.forename: Landry M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Miguel
authors.forename: Franck A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Mayinda Mboungou
authors.forename: Abdon C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Nzagou
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mayembo
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Uberti
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Maria
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Icardi
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Viscoli
mesh_terms: D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis / Q000379:methods*; D000328:Adult; D003223:Congo / Q000453:epidemiology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006678:HIV / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014944:World Health Organization