DIAGNOSIS OF HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS (HIV) INFECTION - MULTICENTER EVALUATION OF A NEWLY DEVELOPED ANTI-HIV-1 AND ANTI-HIV-2 ENZYME-IMMUNOASSAY

A new anti-human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and 2 (anti-HIV 1 and 2 ) test is described. It uses recombinant p24 and peptides covering gp3 2, gp41, and gp120 to identify HIV-1 and HIV-2 infections. This test h as been shown to be specific (99.5%) and sensitive (99.8%). In this re spect, the assay was equal or superior to anti-HIV 1 and 2 tests run a s references. The test was able to discriminate sera from patients wit h HIV infections from those from uninfected individuals with excellenc e; it also exerted high intra- and interassay precisions. The ''modula r'' concept of the test allows the use of single components (gp32 or g p41) to separate between HIV-2 and HIV-1 infections, respectively.