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Background. Monitoring of antiretroviral treatment (ART) with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) viral loads, as recommended in industrialized countries, is rarely available in resource-limited settings because of the high costs and stringent requirements for storage and transport of plasma. Dried blood spots (DBS) can be an alternative to plasma, but the use of DBS has not been assessed under field conditions in rural Africa. The present study investigates the performance of DBS in HIV viral load monitoring of patients who received ART in rural Tanzania.

Patients and Methods. From November 2007 through June 2008, parallel plasma and DBS specimens were obtained from patients who received ART at Haydom Lutheran Hospital in rural Tanzania. DBS specimens were stored at tropical room temperature for 3 weeks before testing with the NucliSENS EasyQ HIV …