HIV prevalence in Oman is low (<5 %); however, 45 % of the population are expatriates, including a portion originating from countries with high HIV prevalence (>5 %). HIV screening is performed at regional public health laboratories as part of a medical fitness programme for residency applicants. We conducted a retrospective evaluation of indeterminate serology results from 11 females of African origin, aged 21–43 years. Serology testing for HIV was conducted according to the national Oman algorithm: fourth-generation immunoassays (Bio-Rad GS HIV Combo Ag/Ab EIA, Siemens Enzygnost HIV Integral 4, Abbott ARCHITECT HIV Ag/Ab Combo, Roche Elecsys HIV Combi PT, bioMérieux VIDAS HIV DUO QUICK), confirmatory assays (Geenius HIV 1/2 Confirmatory, INNO-LIA HIV I/II Score) and PCR testing. Confirmatory testing to resolve indeterminate results was conducted with available samples for five patients using a combination of immunoassays, confirmatory assays, PCR/PERT and pro-viral DNA levels, at three external laboratories; Roche Diagnostics (Germany), Swiss National Laboratory (Switzerland) and Barts Health NHS Trust (UK). Nineteen serum, 15 plasma and two whole-blood samples were analysed. Nine of ten patients analysed on Bio-Rad and Siemens immunoassays were highly reactive; seven were highly reactive on the Abbott assay. Eight of nine patients tested with the Roche assay were negative. Three of four patients tested on the bioMérieux assay were negative. Five patients underwent confirmatory testing at external laboratories; all were negative by HIV-RNA or pro-viral DNA testing. In conclusion, HIV-RNA and pro-viral DNA testing is recommended for HIV screening of individuals from high-prevalence regions coming to low-prevalence regions.

中文翻译：

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非洲外籍人士中的HIV血清学假阳性：筛查困境。

阿曼的艾滋病毒感染率很低（<5％）；但是，有45％的人口是外籍人士，其中一部分来自艾滋病毒感染率较高的国家（> 5％）。HIV筛查是在地区公共卫生实验室进行的，作为针对居住申请人的医疗健康计划的一部分。我们对11名来自非洲的21-43岁女性的血清学结果进行了回顾性评估。根据国家阿曼算法对HIV进行了血清学测试：第四代免疫测定（Bio-Rad GS HIV Combo Ag / Ab EIA，Siemens Enzygnost HIV Integral 4，雅培ARCHITECT HIV Ag / Ab Combo，Roche Elecsys HIV Combi PT，bioMérieux VIDAS HIV DUO QUICK），确认分析（Geenius HIV 1/2确认，INNO-LIA HIV I / II评分）和PCR测试。在三个外部实验室中，结合免疫测定，验证测定，PCR / PERT和前病毒DNA水平，对五名患者的可用样品进行了确定性测试，以解决不确定的结果。罗氏诊断（德国），瑞士国家实验室（瑞士）和Barts Health NHS信托（英国）。分析了19个血清，15个血浆和2个全血样品。在Bio-Rad和Siemens免疫分析中分析的十名患者中有九名具有高反应性；七个在Abbott分析中具有高反应性。用罗氏测定法测试的九位患者中有八位阴性。在bioMérieux分析中测试的四名患者中有三名阴性。五名患者在外部实验室进行了确认测试；HIV-RNA或前病毒DNA检测均呈阴性。结论，