Detection of HIV Viral Load in Liquid and Dried Plasma Spots Among HIV Infected Patients in Jos University Teaching Hospital, Plateau State, Nigeria

Despite the remarkable achievement in prevention and control so far attained, HIV incidence is increasing in some countries and regions, Sub-Saharan Africa accounting for 68% global HIV prevalence with women and young people disproportionately affected. As of 2014 in Nigeria, the HIV prevalence rate among adults ages 15-49 was 3.17 percent. However, the HIV epidemic in Nigeria is complex and varies widely by region. To compare HIV viral load in liquid and dried plasma on filter paper (whatman 903). A study among HIV patients was carried out in Aids Prevention Initiative (APIN) Centre, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Plateau State, Nigeria to compare viral load in dried plasma spot (DPS) against the liquid plasma (LP) which is the gold standard. 84 adult HIV infected subjects were recruited for this survey with each completed a questionnaire and donated blood for the viral load assay using CobasAmpliprep/TaQmananalyser between September to November 2014. Out of the 84 HIV infected adults, 31% (26/84) of the subjects were males while the remaining 69% (58/84) were females. On the other hand, 32 of the patients were treatment experienced, and 52 were treatment naive. The sensitivities and specificities of dried plasma spots at ambient and refrigeration temperatures were 91.3% and 100% respectively (P 6.0.There was a strong positive correlation in this current study between the viral load in LP and DPS as well as LP and DPS-REFR with values of 0.978 and 0.992 respectively as well as mean loss in viral log copies of 0.261 and 0.196. In general, the result of DPS was highly comparable with that of LP, which suggests that DPS could be used as a valuable alternative in resource constrains settings. This range is useful in providing clinical guidance regarding drug regimen switch in individuals on antiretroviral therapy (ART).