Abstract:
Human immunodeficiency virus is a global epidemic disease. It is the most serious public health
problem in the developing world. HIV is a Ribo Nucleic acid virus known as a retrovirus. It has
two major strains: Human Immunodeficiency Virus type-1and type-2. Type-1 is the etiologic agent
of AIDS. The viral load quantification of Human Immunodeficiency Virus type -1 Ribo Nucleic
Acid levels is one of the most valuable clinical tools for predicting disease progression and for
initiation or evaluation for the efficacy of antiretroviral therapy. The viral load assay methods
currently require adequate facilities with complex equipment and specialized personnel. This study
aims to assess the comparison of HIV-1 viral load obtained by using Plasma and Dried Blood Spot
samples through Roche Cobas Ampliprep Cobas Taq Man. In conducting the research, a cross
sectional study design was used with a non-randomized purposive sampling technique. The viral
load was measured in parallel using Plasma and Dried Blood Spot specimens that were collected
at the same time from 48 Human Immunodeficiency virus -1 infected patients on Anti-Retroviral
Therapy > 6 months. The samples were collected by appropriate sample container and the data
were entered into Epi Info and imported into SPSS version 20 software for analysis. Thus, paired
viral load results were obtained for 48 (100%) specimens. The results from plasma show that 45
(93.7%) specimen had viral load values of < 1000 copies/ml, and other 3 (6.3%) specimens, >
1,000 copies/ml. Dried Blood Spot results were also obtained for 48 (100%) specimens in which
44 (91.7%) specimens had viral load results < 1000 copies/ml and 4 (8.3%) specimens > 1000
copies/ml .Also, undetected result on Plasma was higher than Dried Blood Spot.. The Dried Blood
Spot and Plasma Viral Load results were highly correlated (R= 0.996; P= 0.001). The total paired
sample mean difference was 0.2. This indicates that there is no significant difference between
Plasma and Dried Blood Spot Viral Load results. Dried Blood Spot specimens should be
considered for HIV monitoring and for detection of viral load in resource-limited settings
