What is the Western Blot Test?
Western blot test is an assay method used in molecular biology to detect the presence of any protein in a sample. It serves to measure the presence and amount of HIV-specific protein.
Why is Western Blot Test Done?
HIV Western Blot Confirmation test is performed to be sure that HIV virus is transmitted in people who have positive results in HIV Screening tests.
The HIV Western Blot test has low sensitivity but high precision. If positive results are obtained from early diagnostic tests within a short time after HIV infection, it may take some time to confirm with the western block test.
In order to confirm the positivity detected in early diagnosis tests such as the 4th generation P24 antigen test, Anti HIV or HIV RNA PCR with high sensitivity, the positivity may not be confirmed when the HIV Western Blot test is applied immediately. Since the HIV Western blot test has low sensitivity but high precision, in such cases it is necessary to wait another 2-4 weeks and repeat the HIV western blot test.
Because of the low sensitivity of the HIV Western Blot test, it is not used as an HIV screening test, but because of its high specificity, this method is considered the GOLD STANDARD in terms of HIV confirmation all over the world.