Comparative assessment of commercial ELISA kits for detection of HIV in India.

Background: India harbors the 3rd highest HIV infected population globally. The magnitude of the HIV detection challenge is enormous. ELISA is the most commonly used screening technique for HIV.

Syphilis seroprevalence among patients attending a sexually transmitted disease clinic in West Bengal, India.

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and is a major public health concern in India. The trend of syphilis infection was studied in attendees aged 15-49 years in an STD clinic in West Bengal from 2004 to 2008. Blood samples were collected from 250 consecutive patients per year (a total of 1,250 samples over 5 years); the patients attended the STD clinic for 12 weeks (October-December) each year, and the serostatus of syphilis was determined qualitatively with the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test using serum samples.