Detection of HIV-1 infection in dried blood spots from a 12-year-old ABO bedside test card.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES We tested dried blood from an ABO bedside test card which had been stored at room temperature for 12 years, to prove that a patient with HIV-1 infection had been infected by blood transfusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS Immunoblots for HIV-1 antibodies and threefold PCRs with half-nested primers for the HIV-1 integrase gene were done with eluates from the dried blood spots. RESULTS HIV-1 antibodies and HIV-1 DNA could be detected in the sample from one unit of blood, but not from the two other units or from the recipient before transfusion. CONCLUSION Further studies should be done on the validity of stored dried blood as an alternative to the storage of frozen donor serum for several years for 'look-back' studies.