Diagnosis of HIV infection with instrument-free assays as an alternative to the ELISA and western blot testing strategy: an evaluation in Central Africa.

The efficiency of an alternative instrument-free testing strategy was evaluated using a membrane-based rapid screening assay (HIVCHEK and its new version HIVCHEK1 + 2) in serial combination with a particle agglutination assay (SERODIA-HIV). Among 1,054 Zairian individuals at high risk of HIV infection, 573 were Western blot-positive for HIV-1 (54.4%) and none were Western blot-positive for HIV-2.

Comparison of five commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and Western immunoblotting for human immunodeficiency virus antibody detection in serum samples from Central Africa.

Detection by five different enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) of antibody to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in sera from three Zairian populations consisting of 1,998 individuals with various risks for HIV infection was evaluated. Sera that were reactive by at least one assay and 10% of the nonreactive serum samples were analyzed by Western blot (immunoblot) by using U.S.