Diagnostic technique | Efficacy in Rural/Urban | Advantage | Limitation | Reference | WHO/CDC recommendation |
Immunological test-Antibody test | Rural and urban | Cost effective. | Less sensitivity. False negative if ab concentration is low. Time taking. | [48] . | Combination ag/ab assay recommended by WHO/CDC instead of ab alone assay (WHO 2012; CDC 2014) |
Immunological test-antigen/antibody (Ag/Ab) combination assay | Rural and urban | More sensitive than antibody test alone. Faster detection window. | False positive. Specific for HIV-1/2 antigen/antibody used | [49] [50] [51] [54] . | Combination ag/ab assay recommended by FDA/CDC/WHO [60] as first step in HIV detection. |
NAAT | Urban | Most sensitive. Can detect and quantitate virus to stage the disease condition for therapy consideration. | High technology lab settings required. Skilled personnel need for the test. Not cost effective. Should be use to confirm and assist in therapy planning after ag/ab test. | [52] [53] . | Combination ag/ab assay recommended by FDA/CDC (CDC 2014) as first step followed by further confirmation by NAAT [81] . |