THE DISEASE

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ( AIDS ) is a chronic, life-threatening condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). By damaging or destroying the cells of your immune system, HIV interferes with the body’s ability to effectively fight off viruses, bacteria and fungi that cause diseases and renders the individual more susceptible to certain types of cancers and to opportunistic infections. The virus and the infection are known as HIV. The term AIDS is used to mean the later stages of HIV infection. Thus, the terms HIV infection and AIDS refer to different stages of the same disease.

HIV most commonly spreads by sexual contact with an infected partner. It can also spread through infected blood and shared needles contaminated with the virus. Untreated women with HIV also can pass the infection to their babies during pregnancy and delivery, and through their breast milk. In more than two decades since the first reports of the disease, AIDS has become a global epidemic. Worldwide, an estimated 38 million people are living with HIV. The demonstration of an antibody response directed against HIV proteins is accepted as evidence of infection.

In 1985, HIV-1 was a recognized retrovirus causing AIDS but in 1986, a second virus HIV-2 was discovered and found to be relatively common in parts of West Africa. Although serologic cross reaction occurs between HIV-1 and HIV-2, HIV-2 infection may not be diagnosed when screening is done exclusively with HIV-1 tests. Therefore, a combination of HIV-1/HIV-2 screening test would allow the detection of antibodies to both of these viruses.

Procedure...