11th International AIDS Conference Vancouver, British Columbia — July 7-12, 1996

Int Conf AIDS 1996 Jul 7-12; 11:31 (abstract no. LB.B.6044)
Szipola G, Hor Bun L, Huszar A; HQs of Budapest Police, Health Department, Budapest, Hungary. Fax: 36-1-32601878. E-mail: 100324.1321@compu-serve.com.

OBJECTIVES: Identifying the frequency of HIV infections in a surveillance programme of high-risk and low-risk sentinel groups in Koh Kong province. To evaluate saliva HIV antibody testing as a non-invasive and cost-effective alternative to serum.

METHODS: Paired samples of saliva and serum were collected from 271 subjects (CSWs, taxi-girls, police, army). The parallel saliva (determined in Hungary, National Institute of Haematology and Blood Bank Services AIDS Laboratory by using Detect HIV ELISA and Biotest ELISA), and serum (determined in the field by using Serodia and confirmed in Phnom Penh, Pasteur Institute by using Murex ELISA) samples were compared to assume the accuracy of saliva HIV antibody tests. Serum testing in Cambodia was the gold standard.

RESULTS: From 271 tested persons 97 (36%) gave positive HIV antibody reaction with different methods. Positivity on CSW group was the highest at 48.7%. The frequency of HIV positivity was significantly higher in the Khmer CSW group as other nationalities (e.g. Vietnamese, Chinese, etc.) The Detect-HIV ELISA for saliva testing was an effective surveillance tool (sensitivity compared to serum was 92.7%).

CONCLUSIONS: 1) The detected high frequency of HIV infections in the CSW group can be a real danger of spreading of disease for the local as well as for the European population (sex-tourism, etc.). 2) Saliva is recommended as a safe and effective alternative to serum for HIV antibody testing with ELISA in surveillance programs.

960707
LBB6044

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