Anti-HIV-1 Antibody Testing Using Modified Gelatin Particle Agglutination : A Large Field Study

SUDA LOUISIRIROTCHANAKUL, Ph.D.*, ANCHALEE THONGPUT, B.Sc.*, CHANTAPONG WASI, M.D.* CHINDA KANOKSINSOMBAT, M.Sc.*, PILAIPAN PUTHA VA THANA, Ph.D.*,

Affiliation : * Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700, Thailand.

AbstractAnti-HIV testing using gelatin particle agglutination (GPA) assay was investigated in parallel with ELISAs from routine service at Siriraj Hospital. In the first strategy, 174,032 sera from a patient population with an HIV-1 seroprevalence of 13.72 per cent were assayed using reduced volumes of GPA reagents, giving a cost reduction of 40 per cent. In the second strategy, 90,560 pregnant women and 48,936 emigrant workers with an HIV-1 seroprevalence of 2.2 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively, were tested in pools of 4 sera using the manufacturer's recom- mended volumes, giving a cost saving of 67 per cent. Overall, the sensitivity and specificity were almost identical with standard methods. Thus, parallel use of either modified GPA might be con- sidered appropriate when testing large numbers of samples. However, both modified versions of GPA are not recommended as the first assay for diagnostic or blood bank screening especially in high prevalence of HIV infection.

Keywords : Anti-HIV, Gelatin Particle Assay, Reduced Volume, Pooled Sera

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