Testing of saliva and serum for HIV in high-risk populations. Ad Hoc Group for the Comparative Saliva and Serum Study

Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 1995 Aug;14(8):710-3. doi: 10.1007/BF01690881.

Abstract

Paired samples of saliva and serum from 286 high-risk subjects were tested for HIV using two commercial enzyme immunoassays following the same WHO testing strategy supplemented with a Western blot technique. Agreement between HIV testing in both sample types was 98.9% (95% confidence interval: 97.7-100). The sensitivity of an EIA (Wellcozyme GACELISA) alone for saliva was 100% (133/133) and the specificity 98.7% (151/153). These results support previous data showing that in some situations saliva might be an effective alternative to serum for HIV testing.

MeSH terms

  • AIDS Serodiagnosis / methods*
  • Adult
  • Blotting, Western
  • Confidence Intervals
  • Female
  • HIV Antibodies / analysis*
  • HIV Infections / diagnosis*
  • HIV Seroprevalence
  • Humans
  • Immunoenzyme Techniques
  • Male
  • Saliva / virology*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity

Substances

  • HIV Antibodies