Diagnosing Primary HIV Infection
Authors: Christopher D. Pilcher, David Alain Wohl, Charles B. Hicks
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2002)

Letters19 March 2002Diagnosing Primary HIV InfectionChristopher D. Pilcher, MD, David Alain Wohl, MD, and Charles B. Hicks, MDChristopher D. Pilcher, MDUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7030Duke University; Durham, NC 27710, David Alain Wohl, MDUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7030Duke University; Durham, NC 27710, and Charles B. Hicks, MDUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7030Duke University; Durham, NC 27710Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-136-6-200203190-00016 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:Daar and colleagues' (1) primary conclusion—that symptoms do not allow focused screening for primary HIV infection—may not be justified since "compatible symptoms" in part determined inclusion in their study and performance of their gold standard test. Furthermore, the statement that clinicians may be confident that "more than 90%" of patients with primary HIV infection will be identified by a standard HIV p24 antigen test alone is potentially misleading for several reasons. First, the study's sensitivity estimate of 88.7% for the p24 antigen test is relatively imprecise, with a 95% CI whose lower boundary was 77%. Second, the ...References1. Daar ES, Little S, Pitt J, Santangelo J, Ho P, Harawa N, et al . Diagnosis of primary HIV-1 infection. Los Angeles County Primary HIV Infection Recruitment Network. Ann Intern Med. 2001;134:25-9. [PMID: 11187417] LinkGoogle Scholar2. Busch MP, Satten GA. Time course of viremia and antibody seroconversion following human immunodeficiency virus exposure. Am J Med. 1997;102:117-24. [PMID: 9845513] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Rosenberg ES, Altfeld M, Poon SH, Phillips MN, Wilkes BM, Eldridge RL, et al . Immune control of HIV-1 after early treatment of acute infection. Nature. 2000;407:523-6. [PMID: 11029005] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Pilcher CD, Eron JJ, Vemazza PL, Battegay M, Harr T, Yerly S, et al . Sexual transmission during the incubation period of primary HIV infection [Letter]. JAMA. 2001;286:1713-4. [PMID: 11594895] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7030Duke University; Durham, NC 27710 PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoDiagnosis of Primary HIV-1 Infection Eric S. Daar , Susan Little , Jacqui Pitt , Joanne Santangelo , Pauline Ho , Nina Harawa , Peter Kerndt , Janis V. Giorgi , Jiexin Bai , Paula Gaut , Douglas D. Richman , Susan Mandel , Stephen Nichols , and Diagnosing Primary HIV Infection Eric S. Daar and Susan Little Metrics Cited ByIntegrating Acute HIV Infection within Routine Public Health Surveillance Practices in New York CityKeeping Them in "STYLE": Finding, Linking, and Retaining Young HIV-Positive Black and Latino Men Who Have Sex with Men in CareMemory T Cells in Rhesus MacaquesCurrent status of gene therapy strategies to treat HIV/AIDSSexual tourism: implications for travelers and the destination cultureModeling immune intervention strategies for HIV-1 infection of humans in the macaque modelImmune intervention strategies for HIV-1 infection of humans in the SIV macaque model 19 March 2002Volume 136, Issue 6Page: 488KeywordsAntigensDNAEnzyme linked immunosorbent assayHIV infectionsHIV-1Prevention, policy, and public healthRNAViral loadViral transmission and infectionWestern blot ePublished: 19 March 2002 Issue Published: 19 March 2002 CopyrightCopyright © 2002 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...