#knowyourhivstatus

http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nnano.2012.186.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20084303 

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_29-10-2012-14-13-30

One of the greatest challenges that must be overcome before HIV/AIDS can be controlled is widespread, affordable diagnosis.  HIV positive individuals may not know that they are infected, and thus spread the virus to others, who in turn don’t know they have become infected, becoming a vicious cycle. 

In developing countries, the infrastructure or the funding may simply not exist to systematically screen large amounts of people, or for that matter, even small populations.  There is often an accompanying deficit of healthcare professionals, which only make it increasingly difficult to ensure proper diagnosis or treatment. 

The ideal solution would be a simple test, which virtually anyone could perform.  Well, we may not be that far off. 

Researchers have devised a procedure, which essentially boils down to this 

- Patient serum (derived from blood) is put into a disposable container.

- Shake.

- If the patient is HIV+, it turns blue.

Not only is it simple, but it can also be evaluated by the naked eye.  Moreover, it is extremely sensitive- in fact, levels of HIV that could not be detected in a lab nucleic acid based test (which has been the gold standard for many years) can be easily detected.  Researchers also estimate at this test will cost 10 times less than current testing methods!

This could largely improve HIV control and prevention, not only in developing countries, but worldwide.  In this case, ignorance is definitely not bliss.