Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2026
Rapid Screening of HIV Reverse Transcriptase and Integrase Inhibitors
Published on: April 9, 2014
Screening for acute human immunodeficiency virus infection in Baltimore public testing sites
Elizabeth Temkin1, Vincent C Marsiglia, Christian Hague
1Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. etemkin@jhsph.edu
Background:
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA testing of pooled HIV antibody-negative specimens can identify acute HIV infection (AHI) and trigger interventions to reduce transmission during this highly infectious period.
Methods:
A Baltimore, MD program serving sexually transmitted disease clinics and other high-risk sites combined HIV testing by third-generation enzyme immunoassay (EIA) with RNA testing of pooled antibody-negative specimens. Laboratory and Disease Intervention Specialists' records were reviewed for program evaluation. A cost analysis was performed.
Results:
In 22 months, we tested 60,695 specimens for HIV. Of these, 1766 (2.9%) tested positive by EIA. Pooled HIV RNA testing of 58,925 EIA-negative specimens detected 7 cases of AHI (0.01%). Reflex HIV RNA testing of EIA-reactive, Western blot-indeterminate specimens confirmed 4 additional AHI cases (total AHI, 0.02%). Contact tracing detected no additional previously unknown cases of HIV infection.
Conclusions:
The utility of pooled HIV RNA testing may be limited by advances in HIV testing technology that reduce the seronegative window period and by characteristics of the local HIV epidemic.
More Related Videos
13:58Amplifying and Quantifying HIV-1 RNA in HIV Infected Individuals with Viral Loads Below the Limit of Detection by Standard Clinical Assays
Published on: September 26, 2011
11:19Pairwise Growth Competition Assay for Determining the Replication Fitness of Human Immunodeficiency Viruses
Published on: May 4, 2015