title: HIV-1 infection using dried blood spots can be confirmed by Bio-Rad Geenius™ HIV 1/2 confirmatory assay.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Confirmatory assays for HIV diagnosis are not well implemented in low-income countries with limited infrastructures. Geenius™ HIV 1/2 Confirmatory Assay is a single-use immunochromatographic test for the confirmation and differentiation of individual HIV-1/2 antibodies validated in venous whole blood, serum and plasma. However, dried blood specimens (DBS) are easier to collect, store and transport than plasma/serum in remote settings from limited resource countries and mobile populations.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the confirmatory assay Geenius™ HIV 1/2 for HIV diagnosis using DBS specimens.
  
  
  METHODS
  We collected DBS from 70 Guinean women previously diagnosed as HIV-1 infected by rapid tests using whole blood samples in Equatorial Guinea and from 25 HIV-negative Guinean women and HIV-exposed infants diagnosed by molecular testing in Madrid. Geenius HIV 1/2 was performed by eluting two drops of dried blood from each patient and following the manufacturer instructions for the assay but using 40μl of the eluted blood as specimen. The results obtained were confirmed by western blot.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Geenius™ HIV 1/2 successfully confirmed the HIV-1 positive and negative infection in all tested DBS specimens, providing 100% specificity [95% Confidence Interval (CI): 86.2%-100%]. No HIV 1/2 coinfections were found in the study cohort. This is the first report that proves a good performance of Geenius™ HIV 1/2 for the HIV-1 infection confirmation using only two drops of dried blood.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results approve the utility of this confirmatory assay using DBS when a lack of adequate infrastructure to collect, store or transport plasma/serum is found. DBS are a practical alternative to plasma/serum for HIV serological diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: HIV-1 Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory, Microbiology and Parasitology Department, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal-IRyCIS and CIBERESP, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fernández McPhee
authors.affiliation: HIV-1 Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory, Microbiology and Parasitology Department, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal-IRyCIS and CIBERESP, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Álvarez
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitario de Getafe, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Prieto
authors.affiliation: Hospital Provincial de Bata, Ministerio de Sanidad y Bienestar Social, Equatorial Guinea.
authors.forename: Jacinta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Obiang
authors.affiliation: Centro Nacional de Medicina Tropical, Instituto de Salud Carlos III-RICET, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Avedillo
authors.affiliation: Centro Nacional de Medicina Tropical, Instituto de Salud Carlos III-RICET, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitario Doce de Octubre, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rojo
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitario Doce de Octubre, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Carlota
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Abad
authors.affiliation: Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: José Tomás
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.affiliation: HIV-1 Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory, Microbiology and Parasitology Department, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal-IRyCIS and CIBERESP, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: africa.holguin@salud.madrid.org.
authors.forename: Africa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Holguín
mesh_terms: D001769:Blood / Q000821:virology*; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity / Q000379:methods*; D003890:Desiccation; D005260:Female; D016701:Guinea; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D013030:Spain; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D015483:HIV Antibodies
keywords: Antibody; Diagnosis; Dried blood spot; Geenius; HIV-1/2