ABSTRACT
Combined p24 antigen-HIV antibody fourth-generation assays that identify most of the early HIV infections have been used extensively worldwide for several years. This poses challenges for the traditional algorithm of line immunoassay (LIA) confirmation. LIA tests are useful methods with their high specificity and their ability to differentiate HIV-1 from HIV-2, but they are reactive days after the fourth generation enzyme immunoassays. With acute HIV infection, high levels of infectious virus are detectable in serum and genital secretions. The rate of transmission during acute HIV infection is higher than the established HIV infection, for this reason, new HIV testing strategies need to focus on sensitivity, especially for this highly contagious phase immediately after infection. Serum sample of a patient sent to Ege University Hospital Clinical Virology Laboratory was repeatedly reactive with low signal/cutoff ratios with two different commercial fourth generation enzyme immunoassays (Architect HIV Ag/Ab Combo Reagent Kit, Abbott, Germany and Vidas HIV Duo Quick, Biomerieux, France). The sample was non-reactive with the LIA (INNO-LIA HIV I/II Score, Innogenetics, Belgium) and HIV RNA (RealTime HIV-I Amplification Reagent Kit, Abbott, USA) result was positive (4.1 x 10(5) copies/ml). With the presentation of this case, the role of LIA in the diagnosis of early HIV infection and its place in test algorithms were questioned.
