African Journal of
Microbiology Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Microbiol. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1996-0808
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJMR
  • Start Year: 2007
  • Published Articles: 5233

Full Length Research Paper

High viral load is necessary to detect human immunodeficiency virus by polymerase chain reaction in blood-soiled needles

Danielle M. Lima*
  • Danielle M. Lima*
  • 1. University of Fortaleza - UNIFOR, Fortaleza, Ceará State, Brazil; 2. Department of Pathology and Legal Medicine, School of Medicine, Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Ceará State, Brazil
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Jeová K.B. Colares
  • Jeová K.B. Colares
  • 1. University of Fortaleza - UNIFOR, Fortaleza, Ceará State, Brazil; 2. Department of Pathology and Legal Medicine, School of Medicine, Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Ceará State, Brazil
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Fernando C. Vilar
  • Fernando C. Vilar
  • Department of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo State, Brazil
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Helena C. Pinto
  • Helena C. Pinto
  • University of Fortaleza - UNIFOR, Fortaleza, Ceará State, Brazil
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Benedito A.L. Fonseca
  • Benedito A.L. Fonseca
  • Department of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo State, Brazil
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  •  Received: 20 January 2014
  •  Accepted: 28 April 2014
  •  Published: 07 May 2014

Abstract

The estimated risk of contamination through percutaneous injuries involving HIV-contaminated sharp objects is 0.32%. It is well known that a high viral load is one of the conditions that increase the risk of HIV-1 transmission in occupational accidents. In order to estimate the level of viral load that could be necessary for HIV-1 transmission to health care workers undergoing occupational accidents with contaminated needles, blood-soiled needles were obtained from HIV-positive patients just after drawing blood to determine HIV-1 viral load by NASBA. Detection of HIV-1 genome was performed by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) after RNA extraction directly wash-outs collected from needles immediately after blood drawing. Samples collected from needles used on 102 HIV-1-positive patients were RT-PCR tested but only 7 were HIV-1-positive. Each patient sample was compared to its respective viral load. All 7 RT-PCR-positive samples were from patients with viral loads higher than 160,000 RNA copies/mm3. Since the needle samples tested here could be considered to be of very high risk of HIV-1 transmission following an occupational accident, RT-PCR detection of HIV-1 genome was only possible in patients with high viral load. These results indicate that, among all risk factors, high HIV-1 viral load probably is the most important risk factor for HIV transmission to health care workers during occupational exposure.

Key words: HIV, viral load, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), RNA, occupational accidents.

Copyright © 2024 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.

This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

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