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Diagnosing HIV Infection
A diagnosis of infection
with HIV can be made by several different kinds of assays, include
virus culture, PCR, and antibody testing. In most cases HIV infection
is diagnosed by demonstrating the presence of specific antibodies
in the blood.
On average, antibodies against HIV become detectable in patients
with acute HIV-1 infection approximately 25 days after infection;
by 12 weeks nearly all infected individuals are HIV antibody positive
(28; 29).
(The process of developing antibodies to a virus is termed seroconversion,
and individuals who become antibody-positive are sometimes called
seroconverters.)
Testing for HIV antibodies is a two-stage process: sera that give
a positive reaction by an initial screening assay are retested to
exclude the possibility of clerical or laboratory error; repeatedly
reactive sera are then tested by a confirmatory assay to verify
that reactive antibodies are directed against HIV antigens. Assays
have been developed for detection of HIV antibodies in serum, whole
blood, saliva, urine, and dried blood collected on filter paper.
4/15/01
Copyright 2001
by HIV and Hepatitis.com. All Rights Reserved
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