Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date. Could you please tell me if the Home Acces HIV1 test that uses the Organon Teknika Vironostika HIV1 Microelisa System is reliable to detect antibodies for Grp M Strain E (Thailand)?
Should a person with persistant unexplained symptoms need to be tested at a special research or University clinic to detect Grp M Strain E antibodies? (Symptoms incl neuropathy, sinusitus, chronic digestive problems, chronic fatigue, unexplained weight loss first two mos after exposure). Or can one with such symptoms be 100% positive they don't have HIV1 if two negative tests using HomeAccess are done more than 12 mos after last exposure, and also PCR DNA is negative and PCR RNA is non-detectable?
Marty Markowitz, M. D.
Clinical Director
Staff Investigator, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center
Associate Professor, Rockefeller University
There are a number of questions being asked here.
Firstly, is the Home Test Kit able to detect an infection with a non Clade B virus?
It is important to remember that the ELISA indicates the presence
of an antibody to the virus. Although clades do differ in parts
of the HIV genome, the immune responses that are mounted to these
viruses are detected by these kits...therefore if the infecting
virus is Clade A or B or C or an AE etc...the test is sensitive.
IT is not specific, meaning that a positive home test should then
be followed up with a confirmatory Western Blot....
The next question is: How sure can one be with negative antibody and antigen tests over a 1 year period in the setting of nonspecific symptoms that someone is NOT HIV-1 infected.
Mathematically....I would say 99.9% certain that this person is not infected with HIV given the repeatedly negative antibody tests...and the confirmatory negative antigen tests...
Symptoms of acute HIV infection are generally very brief....those who have symptoms for a protracted time period have very clear signs of infection-such as high viral loads, low T-cell counts, and on occasion, signs of immunodeficiency ....There are many other conditions that cause the constellation of symptoms described....You should seek medical advice and not rely on self diagnosis and home test kits.
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