Detection of HIV in Specimens from Newborn Screening Programs

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Abstract
From recent reports it appears that the detection of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in neonates (babies ≤1 month old) is possible,1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 although not as reliable as in older babies, children, and adults.1 , 3 , 7 , 8 There is some evidence that neonates whose HIV infection can be detected in the first month of life will have faster disease progression.1 , 7 The number of infected neonates in the combined reports is small because blood from the newborn period is rarely available by the time HIV infection is confirmed. We used the demonstrated sensitivity of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for HIV detection in dried-blood filter-paper specimens6 , 9 to study a set of dried blood spots (Guthrie cards) obtained routinely from newborns at a median age of three days. We retrieved specimens from 42 children born from 1986 to 1990 whose HIV infections are now known.