Comparison of the performance of Aptima HIV-1 Quant Dx Assay with Abbott RealTime HIV Assay for viral load monitoring using plasma and Dried Blood Spots collected in Kenya.

Introduction: HIV-1 viral Load (VL) testing is recommended for the monitoring of antiretroviral treatment. Dried Blood Spots (DBS) are an effective sample type in resource limited settings, where safe phlebotomy and reliable shipping are hard to guarantee. In HIV high burden countries, high throughput assays can improve access to testing services.