Dried blood spots as a practical and inexpensive source for human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus surveillance
Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz
;
100(4): 365-370, July 2005. mapas, tab
Article
in English
| LILACS
| ID: lil-405990
RESUMO
Passive surveillance of infectious diseases with a high percentage of asymptomatic cases or long incubation periods, such as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), does not reflect the current transmission dynamics. Thus, a multi-strategic surveillance, such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) sentinel surveillance proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO), is necessary. The Brazilian HIV sentinel surveillance was started in May 1992 with this purpose. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the feasibility and costs of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) surveillance using dried blood spots (DBS) collected for neonatal screening of metabolic diseases in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. This was accomplished through the comparison of HIV and HCV seroprevalence with previous Brazilian studies. From December 2001 to June 2002, 24,905 newborns were tested for HIV and 4211 for HCV. HIV seroprevalence was 0.25 percent and the 95 percent confidence interval (CI) was 0.18, 0.31 percent; and HCV seroprevalence was 0.71 percent and the 95 percent CI was 0.46, 0.97 percent. These numbers are similar to previous Brazilian studies. Cost in this study was approximately US$ 3.10 per sample, which was roughly one third of the cost of the same exam at the Brazilian HIV sentinel surveillance. We conclude that it is possible and more cost-effective to use DBS for infectious diseases surveillance, albeit it is still necessary to compare these results with the usual sentinel methodology in a concomitant trial.
Full text:
Available
Index:
LILACS (Americas)
Main subject:
Blood Specimen Collection
/
HIV Infections
/
Neonatal Screening
/
Health Care Costs
/
Hepatitis C
/
Sentinel Surveillance
Type of study:
Etiology study
/
Risk factors
/
Screening study
Limits:
Humans
/
Infant, Newborn
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Brazil
Language:
English
Journal:
Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz
Journal subject:
Tropical Medicine
/
Parasitology
Year:
2005
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Brazil
Institution/Affiliation country:
1Universidade José do Rosário Vellano/BR
/
Faculdade de Medicina/BR
/
Núcleo de Pesquisa em Apoio Diagnóstico/BR
/
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais/BR
/
Universidade José do Rosário Vellano/BR
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