Molecular immunological techniques to support the differential microbiological diagnosis of acute HIV infection

Abstract

This research sought to identify HIV confirmatory molecular immunological methods for the early diagnosis of acute infections, complementing the differential microbiological diagnosis. A descriptive study of a clinical case was carried out using molecular immunological analyses. The results showed that molecular immunological methods range from third generation techniques, capable of diagnosing the infection in the acute phase, to fourth generation techniques that detect the infection from the third week of infection. Confirmatory tests, such as Western Blot and LIA, presented high sensitivity and specificity. Revised molecular techniques, such as p24 detection or Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), reduced diagnosis time. In conclusion, molecular immunological methods allow early detection of HIV with high precision, providing diagnostic and confirmation results from the third week of infection.