Pooled testing: A tool to increase efficiency of infant HIV diagnosis and virological monitoring
Date
2020-08
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
"Authors retains Copyright"
Abstract
Background: Pooled testing, or pooling, has been used for decades to efficiently diagnose relatively rare conditions, such as infection in blood donors. Programmes for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and for antiretroviral therapy (ART) are being rolled out in much of Africa and are largely successful. This increases the need for early infant diagnosis (EID) of HIV using qualitative nucleic acid testing and for virological monitoring of patients on ART using viral load testing. While numbers of patients needing testing are increasing, infant HIV infections and ART failures are becoming rarer, opening an opportunity for pooled testing approaches.
Description
Keywords
HIV, antiretroviral treatment, early infant diagnosis, pooled testing
Citation
Preiser W, Van Zyl GU. Pooled testing: A tool to increase efficiency of infant HIV diagnosis and virological monitoring. Afr J Lab Med. 2020;9(2), a1035. https://doi. org/10.4102/ajlm.v9i2.1035