Boosted p24 antigen assay for early diagnosis of perinatal HIV infection

Objective: The authors evaluated the accuracy of in-house boosted-p24 antigen assay for diagnosis of perinatal HIV infection. Material and Method: The author has retrospectively reviewed the medical records of infants born to HIVpositive mothers. The infants were tested for boosted-p24 antigen assay at the age of 1-2 months and 4-6 months. HIV infection was defined as positive anti-HIV at the age 18 months or older, or had positive HIV-PCR with clinical signs and symptoms compatible with HIV/AIDS. Results: There were 168 infants included in this review and six were HIV-infected. The boosted-p24 antigen assay had the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of 33.33%, 98.27%, 50%, and 95.8%, respectively at 1-2 month-old, and 100%, 98.27%, 71.43%, and 100%, respectively at 4-6 month-old. Conclusion: Boosted-p24 antigen assay could be a cheaper alternative test to help diagnosis of perinatal HIV infection in infants. The test was very accurate when performed at 4-6 months.