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Evaluation of the WHO clinical case definition for AIDS in rural Zaire.

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References

1988

Year

De Cock Km, Robert Colebunders, Henry Francis, Nzila Nzilambi, M. Laga, Ryder Rw, M Bondjobo, Joseph B. McCormick, P Piot
PubMed

Abstract

The clinical case definition for AIDS proposed by WHO for use in Africa was evaluated against HIV antibody status in 72 patients in rural Zaire. Twenty-one (29%) of the patients were antibody-positive. For diagnosing anti-HIV seropositivity, the case definition had a sensitivity of 52%, a specificity of 78%, a positive predictive value of 50% and a negative predictive value of 80%. Calculation of the positive predictive value at different levels of prevalence of HIV infection suggests that the case definition operates at maximum reliability in selected high-risk groups. Modifications to the case definition should be evaluated to try and improve its sensitivity and positive predictive value.