Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the HIV–CHEK kit for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody testing.
A comparison with the Serodia-HIV test was made on 42 fresh serum samples. Both tests accurately identified the 11 true positive serum samples, while there was one false positive with the Serodia-HIV and 3 were difficult to interpret using the HIV–CHEK. To assess the sensitivity of the HIV–CHEK assay, a comparison with other tests was made using serial titrations of stored known HIV-positive frozen serum samples. Here the HIV–CHEK demonstrated a poor sensitivity compared to the others.
In conclusion, although we found the HIV–CHEK to be simple and quick, the difficulty with interpretation of some specimens and the apparent poor sensitivity on frozen samples makes it difficult to recommend this kit in its present form as a principal initial screening test for HIV antibody.
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