Identification of Recent HIV Infection

The recent development of serological incidence assays for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that are able to distinguish recent from long-standing infection has generated an important tool for HIV surveillance. In the European Union (EU), a number of different serological assays are being used, and there is the danger that that HIV incidence estimates in different countries, or even within a country, may not be comparable.

The former EU-funded project EURO HIV (http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_projects/2004/action2/action2_2004_13_en.htm) included a work package on the investigation of several serological assays for recent HIV infection. It investigated the transferability of these tests, their comparative performance and their application in estimating HIV incidence in selected populations. Ten EU Member States contributed to this work.

On completion of this project three reports were prepared by the collaborative group and submitted to the E.U.   The individual reports are shown below.

• EuroHIV Work Package 7 Report 1: Technology Transfer: Feasibility of Transferring the IDE-V3 and AxSYM Avidity Immunoassays for Detection of Recent HIV-1 Infections Between Laboratories (PDF, 3.2 MB)
• EuroHIV Work Package 7 Report 2 (preliminary): Comparison of 4 STARHS Methods for the Detection of Recent HIV Infection (PDF, 3.3 MB)
• EuroHIV Work Package 7 Report 3: Estimating HIV Incidence (PDF, 3 MB)

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Last reviewed: 3 September 2008