Limitations of enzyme immunoassay tests for detection of HTLV-III/LAV antibodies.

A commercial enzyme immunoassay (EIA) kit was compared with an immunofluorescence test for the detection of antibodies directed against human T-cell lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV-III). The EIA kit is recommended for the screening of blood and plasma products only and is not suitable for diagnostic purposes because of the problem of nonspecific reactions. It is also recommended that the EIA kit not be used for screening immunoglobulin preparations for anti-HTLV-III antibodies because of the problem of false-positive reactions.