HIV test needs just a spot of blood
An HIV test using dried blood samples is fast, inexpensive, and could aid the testing and treatment of HIV-positive babies in the first year of life, scientists say.
科学家说，一种使用干血样的艾滋病病毒测试快速、廉价，而且有助于艾滋病阳性的婴儿在出生后第一年中的测试和治疗。
The technique extracts and amplifies the virus's genetic material from a tiny amount of blood blotted onto filter paper.
这种技术提取并扩增来自滤纸吸收的少量血液中的艾滋病病毒的遗传物质。
Researchers say that HIV-positive babies are more likely to survive if treated in the first year of life （see Treat HIV babies early, urge researchers）。
科学家说，如果艾滋病病毒阳性的婴儿在出生后的第一年接受治疗，他们很有可能存活下来（参见 科学家敦促尽早治疗艾滋病婴儿）。
But diagnosis with conventional antibody tests cannot be done until babies are 18 months old - when antibodies transferred from the mother have been eliminated - while commercial tests to detect virus genetic material are relatively expensive, require large quantities of blood and need special conditions for storage and transport of samples.
但是利用传统抗体测试的诊断只能应用于18个月以上的婴儿--那时候来自母亲的抗体才消失--而且检测病毒遗传物质的商业测试法相对昂贵、需要大量的血液而且储存和运输样本需要特殊环境。
The filter paper test, reported in PLoS ONE this month （5 June），requires only small blood samples on filter paper which can be conveniently collected and transported - even posted - to laboratories in a zip lock bag.
在本月（6月5日）出版的《公共科学图书馆？综合》杂志上报告的这种滤纸测试法只需要在滤纸上的少量血样，这可以很容易地收集并放在一个拉链袋里运送给--甚至邮寄给--实验室。
The researchers, led by Mohan Somasundaran at the US-based University of Massachusetts Medical School, tested the method on 56 patients, including 19 infants born to HIV-positive mothers at Heal Hospital, Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
由美国马萨诸塞医学院的Mohan Somasundaran领导的这组科学家在56位患者身上测试了这种方法，包括刚果民主共和国Goma的Heal医院的艾滋病阳性母亲生下的19名婴儿。
They found it to be accurate as well as twice as fast and 40-fold cheaper than commercial viral tests. It was also just as accurate after samples were stored at 37 degrees Celsius for seven days.
他们发现该方法准确，速度是商业病毒测试法的两倍，而且成本是后者的1/40。当样本在37摄氏度下储存7天之后，它也一样准确。
Somasundaran told SciDev.Net that the test could also be used to assess how well antiretroviral therapy is working by detecting the levels of virus in the blood.
Somasundaran告诉本网站说，该测试也可以通过检测血液中的病毒水平从而评估抗逆转录病毒疗法的疗效。
Dry blood samples are less likely to degrade than their liquid counterparts - especially useful in rural areas where there are no laboratories, Quarraisha Abdool Karim, director of the Centre for Aids Research in South Africa, at the University of KwaZulu-Natal told SciDev.Net.
南非夸祖鲁-纳塔尔大学南非艾滋病研究中心的主任Quarraisha Abdool Karim告诉本网站说，干血样比液体血样更不容易分解--这在没有实验室的农村地区特别有用。
"We only wait for six weeks before infants can be tested with this method - therapy can be provided and they can be monitored earlier," says Karim
“婴儿只需要等6周时间就可以用这种方法进行测试--可以尽早提供治疗和监测。”Karim说。
The technique of sampling is easy. It allows clinics to have tested results every month while storing the samples in good condition," says Vindu Eulalievyolo, a researcher based at Heal Hospital.
取样技术也很简单。“它可以让诊所每个月得到一次测试结果，同时很好地保存样本。”在Heal医院工作的一位科学家Vindu Eulalievyolo说。
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