Osong Public Health Res Perspect, 2014, 02, 187─192

The recency period for estiation of human immunodeficiency virus incidence by the AxSYM avidity assay and BED-capture enzyme immunoassay in the republic of Korea

Hye-Kyung Yu, T Heo, N Kim, J Wang, J Lee, S Kim, M Kee

Abstract

Objectives
Measurement of the incidence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is very important for epidemiological studies. Here, we determined the recency period with the AxSYM avidity assay and the BED-capture enzyme immunoassay (BED-CEIA) in Korean seroconverters. Methods: Two hundred longitudinal specimens from 81 seroconverters with incident HIV infections that had been collected at the Korea National Institute of Health were subjected to the AxSYM avidity assay (cutoff Z 0.8) and BED-CEIA (cutoff Z 0.8). The statistical method used to estimate the recency period in recent HIV infections was nonparametric survival analyses. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated for 10-day increments from 120 days to 230 days to determine the recency period.
Results
The mean recency period of the avidity assay and BED-CEIA using a survival method was 158 days [95% confidence interval (CI), 135e181 days] and 189 days (95% CI, 170e208 days), respectively. Based on the use of sensitivity and specificity, the mean recency period for the avidity assay and BED-CEIA was 150 days and 200 days, respectively.
Conclusion
We determined the recency period to estimate HIV incidence in Korea. These data showed that the nonparametric survival analysis often led to shorter recency periods than analysis of sensitivity and specificity as a newmethod. These findings suggest that more data from seroconverters and other methodologies are needed to determine the recency period for estimating HIV incidence.

• ISBN or ISSN: 2210-9099

• 본 연구는 질병관리본부 연구개발과제(과제번호 2011-N51001-00) 연구비를 지원받아 수행되었습니다.
• This research was supported by a fund(code 2011-N51001-00) by Research of Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.