The original PCR products were sent to Inqaba where they performed a clean-up process and Sanger sequencing. (1.3%) were not specified. Human immunodeficiency computer virus differentiation results were as follows: 466 (97.1%) were positive for only HIV-1 antibodies, 11 (2.3%) [95%CI: (0.98%; 3.74%)] were positive for both HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies, 3 (0.6%) were negative for both antibodies and none were positive for only HIV-2 antibodies. Of the 11 specimens with both HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies, seven experienced sufficient volume for confirmatory screening and were all negative around the in-house HIV-2 PCR assay. Conclusion The multispot HIV-1/2 quick assay exhibited cross-reactivity between HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies. Human immunodeficiency computer virus -2 infections were not detected. family, genus.1 It is most prevalent in West Africa.2 Most countries with historical ties with West Africa have also detected a significant proportion NMS-1286937 of HIV-2 infections. 3 Even though HIV pandemic is mainly caused by HIV-1, HIV-2 is also an important cause of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).4 Both HIV-1 and HIV-2 have similar clinical manifestations, however, HIV-2 progresses much slower to AIDS.5 South African data on HIV-2 infections is limited. Sporadic cases have been reported in the past, which is an indication that HIV-2 may be circulating in South Africa (SA).6,7 In addition, SA has a large number of visitors and immigrants from your West African region and other parts of the world where HIV-2 infections have been reported,8,9 which may contribute to the spread of the computer virus in the country. Program diagnostic serology assays that are widely used in SA national public sector health laboratories do not NMS-1286937 include HIV-1 and HIV-2 differentiation.10 This may have implications for HIV management,11 as the treatment of HIV-2 differs from that of HIV-1. Human immunodeficiency computer virus-2 is usually intrinsically resistant to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) and fusion inhibitors. It is also only weakly suppressed by some protease inhibitors. Human immunodeficiency computer virus-2 has a lower genetic barrier compared with HIV-1 to nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) resistance. Dolutegravir is effective against HIV-2, but strains with raltegravir mutations may have low levels of resistance.12 The virology diagnostic laboratory is currently using a fourth generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (4th gen ELISA) for HIV-1/2 screening. The fourth generation ELISA can detect both NMS-1286937 HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies and p24 antigen, but it does not differentiate between the two types. The World Health Business (WHO) HIV screening guidelines recommend HIV-2 differentiation with serological and/or molecular assays in settings where HIV-2 infections have been detected.13 Human immunodeficiency computer virus -2 molecular screening is an important confirmatory assay, owing to the high HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibody cross-reactivity with serological assays.14 Aims This study aimed to determine the proportion of HIV-2 infections in specimens that tested HIV-1/2 positive in a public laboratory in Tshwane. Objectives Human immunodeficiency computer virus -1 and -2 differentiation using the Multispot HIV-1/2 quick test. Evaluation of the in-house HIV-2 nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. Confirmatory screening using the in-house HIV-2 PCR assay. Methods and materials Study design This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study conducted between February 2013 and July 2016. Study establishing This study was conducted in the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS), Tshwane Academic Division (TAD) Virology Laboratory at the University or college of Pretoria, Faculty of Health Sciences. The specimens used came from the public sector hospitals and clinics around Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, submitted for routine HIV screening. Specimen selection A total of 480 plasma and NMS-1286937 serum specimens that experienced previously tested positive for HIV-1/2 antibody, were randomly selected. The inclusion criteria were age of more than 24 months and HIV-1/2 antibody IkappaBalpha positive results on two different fourth generation ELISA platforms, the Modular E170 (Roche, Switzerland) and the Architect i2000 (Abbott, Germany). Statistics The HIV-2 prevalence is usually unknown in SA. Based on the HIV-2 prevalence data from other parts of the world outside the West African region,15,16,17 a.