Test Summary

Infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 2 (HIV-2) is currently diagnosed by the presence of antibodies to HIV-2, the detection of specific HIV-2 antigens or the ability to culture HIV-2 from blood, fluid or tissue of infected persons. The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique, on the other hand, allows for the exponential enzymatic amplification of selected HIV-2 DNA sequences present in clinical specimens. The amplified fragments are then detected by hybridization to an HIV-2 specific labeled probe. As a result, the HIV-2 DNA PCR is a highly sensitive and specific method to detect the presence of HIV-2 proviral DNA in clinical specimens.
The diagnosis of infection should not rely solely upon the result of a PCR assay. A positive result should be considered in conjunction with clinical presentation and additional clinical tests. A negative PCR result indicates the absence of HIV-2 proviral DNA at detectable levels in the sample tests and does not exclude diagnosis of disease.

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