EVALUATION OF THE RELIABILITY OF 6 CURRENT ANTI-HIV-1 HIV-2 ENZYME IMMUNOASSAYS/

The sensitivity for early detection of HIV antibodies and specificity of 6 anti-HIV-1/HIV-2 screening enzyme immunoassays (ELISAs) currently on the market were investigated by testing a panel of 249 well-charac terized serum samples. The panel included sera from AIDS patients or c hildren with congenital HIV infection, high-risk individuals and patie nts with conditions unrelated to AIDS. 'Tricky' sera (repeatedly posit ive results by ELISA and negative or indeterminate results by Western blot; n = 69) were also used in this evaluation along with 6 seroconve rsion panels. One second-generation assay (Biotest) and two third-gene ration assays (Abbott and Murex) showed the highest sensitivity for ea rly detection of HIV-1 antibodies in seroconversion panels. A high spe cificity was achieved with the Cambridge Biotech (100%) and Ortho ELIS A (99.4%). A relatively high late of false-positive results was obtain ed with the Biotest (n = 10) and the Pasteur assays (n = 8) by testing 'tricky' sera and samples from high-risk individuals and from patient s with other acute viral infections. In conclusion, it remains difficu lt to combine high specificity with an accurate detection of early ser oconversion for anti-HIV-1/HIV-2 screening enzyme immunoassays.