Knowledge and Awareness about Recent Advances in HIV Diagnostics Among General Population-A Survey

HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus which cripples the immune system and causes AIDS; with no effective cure. It can be diagnosed by many techniques like HIV-Antigen/antibody test, Nucleic acid test-CD4 T Cell count, viral load (HIV RNA)-drug-resistant, complications test, tuberculosis, hepatitis B or C-STIS, Liver or kidney damage. The aim of this study was to assess the popular perception about the advances in diagnostics of HIV among the general population. An online survey with a self-structured questionnaire was prepared based on the advances in diagnostics of HIV/AIDS. A questionnaire containing 10 questions was distributed among the general population through an online survey platform. Results were analyzed using SPSS software version 2.0. 37% of them were aware of the various HIV diagnostic tests and the majority were not aware. 92% of the population believed that Antigen/antibody test can also be a diagnostic test for HIV. 69% were familiar about the recent testing methods which have the potency to diagnose p24. Based on this survey, it was concluded that the general population was well aware about the recent techniques of diagnostics used in HIV.

Aligning in the dark: Variable and shifting (user-) settings in developing point-of-care diagnostics for tuberculosis and HIV

To be effective, healthcare technologies should be attuned to particular contexts of use. This article examines how such attuning is articulated in global innovation practices for tuberculosis and HIV diagnostics, and to what effect. It examines the development of point-of-care (POC) diagnostics – promised to be designed for users outside laboratories or in resource constrained settings – to study what developers and implementers do to align diagnostic technologies to the POC. Fieldwork among global health actors involved in diagnostic development, including manufacturers, donors, industry consultants, international organizations, policymakers, regulators and researchers, is combined with fieldwork among users of diagnostics in India, including decision-makers, NGOs, program officers, laboratory technicians and nurses. The article adds to STS’s theory of alignment and user interaction, where the setting and user to which developers and implementers of global health diagnostics align are multiple, varied, emerging and keep shifting. The characteristics of a local user setting include multiple engaged and imagined user settings, but also the settings of developers, of global intermediaries, competitors and diseases. As such, alignment is happening across multiple dimensions and scales and has an important temporal dimension. The results reveal how alignment happens to some extent in the dark, characterized by uncertainty about the elements that should align. Standardizing elements, politics and scarce resources cause frictions in the temporalities of aligning and over what constitutes a well-aligned diagnostic.

A New Perspective on HIV Diagnostics: Reinterpretation in the Age of Early Treatment

ABSTRACT Early treatment of HIV infection with antiretroviral therapy in recently identified HIV-infected individuals reduces viral replication and decreases the risk of transmission. The screening and supplemental, confirmatory assays used to identify infection are influenced by early treatment and may obscure a clear diagnosis of HIV infection. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Manak et al. demonstrate the impact of antiretroviral therapy on the evolution of biomarkers that have traditionally been used for identifying HIV infection (M. M. Manak, L. L. Jagodzinski, A. Shutt, J. A. Malia, et al., J Clin Microbiol 57:e00757-19, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00757-19).

Sub-picogram level sensitivity in HIV diagnostics achieved with the europium nanoparticle immunoassay through metal enhanced fluorescence

Gold nanoparticle based metal enhanced fluorescence applied to the Europium Nanoparticle Immunoassay (ENIA) improves the limit of detection by ten-fold from 1.8 pg mL−1to 0.19 pg mL−1.

Diagnosis of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

SUMMARYHIV diagnostics have played a central role in the remarkable progress in identifying, staging, initiating, and monitoring infected individuals on life-saving antiretroviral therapy. They are also useful in surveillance and outbreak responses, allowing for assessment of disease burden and identification of vulnerable populations and transmission “hot spots,” thus enabling planning, appropriate interventions, and allocation of appropriate funding. HIV diagnostics are critical in achieving epidemic control and require a hybrid of conventional laboratory-based diagnostic tests and new technologies, including point-of-care (POC) testing, to expand coverage, increase access, and positively impact patient management. In this review, we provide (i) a historical perspective on the evolution of HIV diagnostics (serologic and molecular) and their interplay with WHO normative guidelines, (ii) a description of the role of conventional and POC testing within the tiered laboratory diagnostic network, (iii) information on the evaluations and selection of appropriate diagnostics, (iv) a description of the quality management systems needed to ensure reliability of testing, and (v) strategies to increase access while reducing the time to return results to patients. Maintaining the central role of HIV diagnostics in programs requires periodic monitoring and optimization with quality assurance in order to inform adjustments or alignment to achieve epidemic control.