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Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Specific IgA in Infants Born to Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Seropositive Women
Robert A. Livingston, MD, MPH;
Nancy Hutton, MD;
Neal A. Halsey, MD;
Richard L. Kline, MS;
Mary Joyner, RN, CPNP;
Thomas C. Quinn, MD, MSc
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1995;149(5):503-507.
Abstract
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Objective
To determine the sensitivity and specificity of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–specific IgA for vertically transmitted HIV infection, particularly during the first month of life.
Design/Setting/Patients
Prospective cohort study of 140 infants born to HIV-seropositive women in a large urban teaching hospital and of 248 older infants and children referred for diagnosis and treatment of HIV infection.
Main Outcome Measures
The HIV-specific IgA immunoblot results were compared with the infection status of patients as determined by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, Ga) criteria or by sequential early diagnostic assays for HIV. Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values were calculated for each age range.
Results
Among infants studied from birth, the rate of vertical transmission of HIV was 21.6% (25/116). The sensitivity of HIV-specific IgA for the first month of life was 8.0% (2/25), and the specificity was 90.1% (82/91). Sensitivity increased progressively during the first year of life, and the negative predictive value was 94.6% by 6 to 8 months of age. The positive predictive value of this assay was 18.2% for neonates but was 96% to 100% after the first month of life.
Conclusions
False-positive test results for HIV-specific IgA occurred with diminishing frequency during the first 4 weeks of life, and the frequency of detectable HIV-specific IgA was similar among the HIV-infected and uninfected groups at this age. Beyond I month of age, detection of HIV-specific IgA is highly specific and is a useful serum-based assay for early diagnosis of HIV infection. These results suggest that maternalfetal transfusion is common and support the hypothesis that the majority of maternal-fetal transmission of HIV occurs around the time of parturition.
(Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1995;149:503-507)
Author Affiliations
From the Departments of Pediatrics (Drs Livingston, Hutton, and Halsey and Ms Joyner) and Medicine (Dr Quinn), The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and the Department of International Health (Dr Halsey), The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, Md; and the Laboratory of Immunoregulation, the National Institute ofAllergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md (Mr Kline and Dr Quinn).
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