Laboratory diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus infection

angleški

2004

letnik 13, številka 2

laboratorijska diagnostika   virusne infekcije

Združenje slovenskih dermatovenerologov
(Obvezni izvod spletne publikacije)

Current routine diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is based on the detection of specific antiviral antibodies in body fluids, mainly serum samples. Enzyme immunoassays and agglutination tests are the most widely used basic screening serological methods. Since the specificity of screening test is limited, all anti-HIV reactive screening test results have to be confirmed, using confirmatory test such as Western blot or immunoblot tests. Diagnostic problems, which cannot be resolved with serological methods, were cleared using two classical methods for direct detection of viral infection: detection of p24 viral antigen or HIV culture. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and other amplification methods are currently the methods of choice for direct detection of HIV infection. The number of copies of the HIV RNA present in blood measured by quantitative amplification methods (viral load) is used as prognostic marker of disease progression, for monitoring antiretroviral treatment and for diagnosis of acute HIV infection before seroconversion.

11.04.2014