Focus on: HIV
What is HIV?
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has been passed between humans for many decades but was only identified in the early 80s. ‘Immunodeficiency’ refers to the weakening of the immune system by the virus. If left untreated, infection with HIV progresses through a series of stages: from flu-like seroconversion illness, through infections associated with the symptomatic stage, leading to late-stage HIV or AIDS.
HIV in the UK
In 2019, it was estimated that 105,200 are living with HIV in the UK
Of these, around 6,600 are undiagnosed so unaware that they have HIV
In 2017, the overall mortality rate for people aged 15-59 who were diagnosed early was, for the first time, equal to that of the general population for the same age group.
How CCL can help
We have tests available to help diagnose or manage HIV.
Viral Resistance: Comprehensive HIV-1 Drug Resistance Testing:
Includes the following three tests:
HIV-1 PRRT Resistance profile - Comprehensive sequencing of the full PR-RT gene and analysis of drug resistance to protease and reverse transcriptase inhibitors from plasma samples.
Integrase resistance profile - Comprehensive sequencing of the integrase gene and analysis of drug resistance to integrase inhibitors from plasma samples.
Tropism by genotype - Genetic analysis of the V3 region, analysing resistance to CCR5 antagonist therapy from plasma samples.
HLA-B*57:01 Testing Technology:
Detection from whole blood of patients displaying HLA B*57:01 polymorphism associated with abacavir sensitivity.
Drug Therapeutic Monitoring service (TDM):
This covers both HIV and Hepatitis
HIV
Monitoring of drug levels in the blood before, during, or after drug treatment covering all current anti-HIV drugs. For most drugs, interpretation is available for trough cases and in some drugs for non-trough sampling.
Hepatitis
Drug level values in the blood before, during or after drug treatment covering Ribavirin, Telapravir, Daclatasvir, Dasabuvir, Ledipasvir, Ombitasvir, Paritaprevir, Simeprevir, Sofosbuvir and Telaprevir. This is provided as a drug level only service.
How to access the suite of HIV tests
If you are a Health Care Professional, please contact us on +44 (0)1223 395 450 / info@camclinlabs.co.uk. If you are a patient, please refer your Health Care Professional to our website and ask them to get in touch. Please note that Cambridge Clinical Laboratories HCP services are only available through a professional healthcare provider.
Useful resources
(Sources – NAT & Terrence Higgins Trust)