Related Experiment Videos
Comparative assessment of quantitative HIV viraemia assays
1Virology Laboratory Hôpital Necker, Paris, France.
Objective:
To compare two published methods for determining plasma viraemia in HIV-seropositive patients, with reference to a cellular viraemia assay.
Patients, Participants:
Three patient groups were defined according to CD4 cell count: group I, less than 200 x 10(6)/l (23 patients); group II, 200-500 x 10(6)/l (18 patients); and group III, greater than 500 x 10(6)/l (13 patients).
Methods:
The two reported methodologies were applied to all fresh samples, simultaneously and on the same day.
Results:
The two techniques did not differ significantly in the detection of plasma viraemia: 82.3% of group I patients and 55% of group II patients were positive, while all group III patients were negative. Cellular viraemia was positive for 96% of the overall population.
Conclusions:
These results, obtained in a network of seven French laboratories involved in clinical trials, confirm that both plasma viraemia and cellular viraemia are useful virological markers.