Prospective evaluation of accuracy of HIV viral load monitoring using the Aptima HIV Quant Dx assay with fingerstick and venous dried blood spots prepared under field conditions in Kenya.

Quantification of HIV-1 RNA is essential for clinical management of HIV patients. The limited throughput and significant hands-on time required by most HIV Viral load (VL) tests makes it challenging for laboratories with high test volume, to turn around patient results quickly. The Hologic Aptima HIV-1 Quant Dx Assay (Aptima), has the potential to alleviate this burden as it is high throughput and fully automated.

Performance evaluation of the Aptima HIV-1 Quant Dx assay for detection of HIV in infants in Kenya.

Background: Early infant diagnosis (EID) of HIV-1 exposed infants enables timely initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART), thereby allowing early diagnosis and treatment to slow disease progression and reduce mortality. Turn-around time to results, partially caused by low to medium throughput technology, remains a hindrance to early treatment. A major solution to this challenge is to incorporate high throughput and accurate technologies in the testing process.

Performance and usability of mPIMA™ HIV 1/2 viral load test in point of care settings in Kenya.

Background: HIV viral load testing is the standard of care for monitoring antiretroviral therapy. In resource-limited settings such as Kenya, access to HIV viral load monitoring is suboptimal due to reliance on centralized laboratory based in vitro diagnostics. Point of care technologies have the potential to improve access and reduce test to result turnaround time.

The opinions about e-health among nurses employed in hospitals located in an urban area in Poland.

The acceptance of e-health solutions by users representing the main professional groups in the healthcare system is of key importance for the successful development of this field. The attitude of nurses to information technology may influence the process of shaping an e-health environment. This survey was conducted to assess the use of information technologies and opinions about e-health among nurses employed in hospital centers located in an urban area in Poland.