Prevalence of the human immunodeficiency virus among patients with tuberculosis in Sierra Leone, established from dried blood spots on filter paper
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate serological testing in field conditions of dried blood spots (DBS) on filter paper for unlinked surveillance of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) associated tuberculosis.
DESIGN: DBS were first evaluated against sera in 359 consenting patients on the capital city's District Tuberculosis Register (DTR). DBS eluates were tested with repeated ELISA using different antigens. Serum samples were tested with ELISA and confirmed with LIA. The cost was compared with that of rapid/simple tests on whole blood. In a second phase, DBS were applied to an unlinked countrywide serosurvey of 582 patients from the DTRs.
RESULTS: The specificity of DBS for HIV-1 and HIV-2 was 100% and sensitivity was 100% and 87.5%, respectively. The cost of the strategy was half that of rapid/simple tests on whole blood. In 1995, HIV-1 associated tuberculosis seroprevalence was 2.41%.
CONCLUSION: The proposed method for the surveillance of HIV-1 associated tuberculosis in Africa is simple, cheap and accurate. Further investigations are necessary to evaluate its sensitivity for HIV-2, and to study the epidemiology of HIV-2 in Sierra Leone.
Keywords: HIV; Sierra Leone; filter paper; surveillance; tuberculosis
Document Type: Regular Paper
Affiliations: 1: Formerly National Leprosy and Tuberculosis Control Programme, Freetown, Sierra Leone, currently Unité Santé UE, Port au Prince, Haiti 2: Laboratoire des Retrovirus, Centre ORSTOM, France 3: National AIDS Control Programme, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Publication date: 01 December 1997
The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IJTLD) is for clinical research and epidemiological studies on lung health, including articles on TB, TB-HIV and respiratory diseases such as COVID-19, asthma, COPD, child lung health and the hazards of tobacco and air pollution. Individuals and institutes can subscribe to the IJTLD online or in print – simply email us at [email protected] for details.
The IJTLD is dedicated to understanding lung disease and to the dissemination of knowledge leading to better lung health. To allow us to share scientific research as rapidly as possible, the IJTLD is fast-tracking the publication of certain articles as preprints prior to their publication. Read fast-track articles.
- Editorial Board
- Information for Authors
- Subscribe to this Title
- International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
- Public Health Action
- Ingenta Connect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites
Receive new issue alert- Access Key
- Free content
- Partial Free content
- New content
- Open access content
- Partial Open access content
- Subscribed content
- Partial Subscribed content
- Free trial content