COMPARISON OF THE SENSITIVITY OF 4 RAPID ASSAYS FOR THE DETECTION OF ANTIBODIES TO HIV-1 HIV-2 DURING SEROCONVERSION/

Objectives: To compare the sensitivity of four rapid assays for the de tection of antibodies against HIV-1 during early seroconversion. Metho ds: Four rapid assays for the detection of antibodies to HIV-1/HIV-2 ( SUDS(R) HIV 1 + 2, TestPack(R) HIV-1/HIV-2, HIV-SPOT and CAPILLUS(R) H IV-1/HIV-2) were evaluated on 38 sera derived from 14 HIV-1 seroconver ters, formerly tested with Abbott second- and third-generation HIV-1/H IV-2 enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and Diagnostic Biotechnology HIV blot 2. 2. EIA-negative sera had also been investigated by HIV-1 antigen testi ng and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis detecting HIV-1 provir al DNA. Results: On 16 sera which were Abbott second-generation EIA ne gative, the SUDS assay rated highest with six positive results. Four s era were TestPack positive. No specimens in this group were HIV-SPOT p ositive or CAPILLUS positive. Of the remaining 22 sera (Abbott second- and third-generation EIA positive), all but two were positive in all tests. Conclusions: The study revealed differences in the sensitivitie s of the rapid assays in the early phase of seroconversion. The most s ensitive assay, SUDS, was even more sensitive than the Abbott third-ge neration EIA, while TestPack and the EIA were equally sensitive. Based on these findings, we suggest the inclusion of these assays in the su pplemental testing for detection of antibodies to HIV.