Educative work ACTA.FAC.MED.NAISS. 1999; 16(2), 75-80

LABORATORY DIAGNOSIS OF HIV INFECTION

Sonja Žerjav

The purpose of HIV diagnosis is to establish safety whether there is an infection or not. Indirect tests for antibody detection comprise screening (ELISA, EIA) and confirmatory assays (Western blot), which are caracterized by their high degrees of sensitivity and specifity. Presence of antibodies to HIV indicate exposure to and infection by the virus.

Direct tests detect the presence of the whole virus, its proteins or its genetic components. They include the p24 antigen capture assay, viral culture and PCR. HIV RNA measurments have an important role in the managment of HIV infected patients, including early diagnosis, predicting prognosis, determining when to initiate antiretroviral therapy, assesing response to therapy and detecting resistance of virus to drugs, especially to AZT (Retrovir).

Key words: HIV, AIDS, ELISA, Western blot, HIV antigen p24, PCR