Overseas processing of dried blood spots for timely diagnosis of HIV in Haitian infants.

Dried blood spots improve access to HIV diagnosis and care for infants in low-resource settings.

Effective health care delivery to the majority of perinatally exposed infants worldwide, including those enrolled in prevention of mother-to-child transmission programs, is hampered by lack of access to an HIV diagnosis in infancy. Dried blood spot collection from young infants for centralized HIV polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing is attainable in low-resource settings, provided PCR metho...

Qualitative human immunodeficiency virus RNA analysis of dried blood spots for diagnosis of infections in infants.

The Gen-Probe Aptima human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA assay was adapted for the diagnosis of HIV infection in infants by using dried blood spots. The assay was 99% sensitive (128/129) and 100% specific (162/162). This may prove useful in resource-limited settings, since it precludes the need for a phlebotomist and maintenance of a cold chain.

Evaluation of HIV-1 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique using dried blood spots (DBS) for diagnosis of perinatal transmission of HIV

Background Effective health care delivery to the majority of perinatally exposed infants is hampered by lack of access to accurate HIV diagnosis in infancy. Polymerase chain reaction is the most sensitive test to diagnose HIV-1 infection in children born to HIV seropositive mothers. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility and accuracy of using dried blood spot (DBS) technology i...

Author's response to reviews Title: Evaluation of a single round polymerase chain reaction assay using dried blood spots for diagnosis of HIV-1 infection in infants in an African setting Authors:

A study to implement early diagnosis of HIV infection in infants born to infected mothers.

A protocol for detecting HIV DNA from specimens collected on filter papers and the effect of storage temperatures on determination of HIV DNA from dried blood spots has been developed and optimized. Blood specimens collected from HIV-1 infected and normal persons were spotted onto blood collection cards (Whatman BFC 180). The HIV DNA was extracted by phenol-chloroform-isoamyl alcohol and was de...