Correlation between saliva and serum for human immunodeficiency virus 1 and 2 antibodies using a rapid test system

Currently, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) tests are almost totally serum based. In situations where blood is difficult or inconvenient to obtain, a substitute to venepuncture offers an attractive alternative. The prototype OraScreen saliva dipsticks were tested on 278 samples comprising 100 normals, 100 samples from persons attending a sexually transmitted disease clinic and 78 samples from persons confirmed to have HIV. The specificity and the sensitivity of the diagnostic test for saliva was 99.5% and 94.7% respectively, when compared to a routine solid-phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test on serum samples and Western blot test when indicated. The prototype OraScreen dipstick test shows potential for saliva testing in situations where it would be inconvenient to use blood. Further evaluation of saliva testing is warranted on a large sample population with a low prevalence of HIV infection.