Early Diagnosis of HIV-1–Infected Infants in Thailand Using RNA and DNA PCR Assays Sensitive to Non-B Subtypes

Abstract

This RNA PCR assay performed well for diagnosing perinatal HIV subtype E infection, detecting nearly half of infected infants at birth, and 100% at 2 and 6 months, with 100% specificity. Infected infant viral RNA levels were very high at 2 and 6 months, and were unaffected by maternal zidovudine treatment.