The performance of using dried blood spot specimens for HIV-1 viral load testing: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Lara VojnovSergio CarmonaClement ZehJessica MarkbyDebrah BoerasMarta R PrescottAnthony Leland Hamilton MayneSouleymane SawadogoChristiane Adje-ToureGuoqing ZhangMercedes Perez GonzalezWendy S StevensMeg DohertyChunfu YangHeather AlexanderTrevor F PeterJohn N Nkengasongnull nullPublished in: PLoS medicine (2022)
This analysis provides evidence to support the implementation and scale-up of dried blood spot specimens for viral load testing using the same 1,000 copies/ml treatment failure threshold as used with plasma specimens. This may support improved access to viral load testing in resource-limited settings lacking the required infrastructure and cold chain storage for testing with plasma specimens.