Title: An evaluation of dipstick-dot immunoassay in the detection of antibodies to HIV-1 and 2 in Zimbabwe.

POPLINE Document Number: 120547

Author(s):

Ray CS
Mason PR
Smith H
Rogers L
Tobaiwa O
Katzenstein DA

Source citation:

TROPICAL MEDICINE AND INTERNATIONAL HEALTH, 1997 Jan;2(1):83-8.

Abstract:

The Program for Appropriate Technology in Health has developed a simple, inexpensive dipstick enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)- 1 and 2 that requires no specialized washing or reading equipment. To evaluate the reliability of this test under local conditions, stored sera from a factory worker cohort of blood donors in Zimbabwe were tested. Before storage, the sera had been tested by Abbott recombinant peptide HIV-1 and 2 ELISA and Enzygnost synthetic peptide HIV-1 and 2 ELISA. Thawed sera were tested concurrently with the Abbott method and the synthetic peptide dipstick assay (ICLD). The 546 sera were classified into 3 groups: 266 true negatives (defined as negative by all 3 ELISAs); 250 true positives; and 30 problematic sera (discrepant results between the 2 pre-storage ELISAs). When compared with the concurrently run ELISA, the overall accuracy of the ICLD was >98% Both the sensitivity and specificity of the ICLD were 99.6% when using sera that were true positives or negatives. When discordant sera were analyzed, the ICLD concurred with findings of Western blot and p24 antigen detection. The cost of the ICL Dipstick is less than US $2.00, compared to $3-3.50 for conventional ELISAs. The accuracy, low cost, and ease of operation of the ICLD suggests that this test has an important role in detecting HIV antibodies at a district level in developing countries.

Keywords:

Zimbabwe
Clinical Research
HIV Infections
AIDS
HIV Testing
Screening
Validity
Africa, Southern
Africa, Sub Saharan
Africa
Developing Countries
Research Methodology
Viral Diseases
Diseases
Laboratory Examinations and Diagnoses
Examinations and Diagnoses
Measurement