Test is useful for predicting the likelihood of hypersensitivity reactions to abacavir in HIV infected patients.
Hypersensitivty reactions , which generally occur during the first 6 weeks of treatment, are often nonspecific and include skin rashes, gastrointestinal symptoms and respiratory systems. Fatalities have been reported with abacavir. Prospective testing for the HLA-B-5701 genotype and excluding positive individuals from treatment decreases the incidence of abacavir hypersensitivity.
Positivity for HLA-B 5701 confers high risk. Although the negative predictive value of the test is high, a negative result does not preclude the development of an allergic reponse.
In patients who have been recently transfused, genotyping using DNA obtained from WBC's may not provide useful information - wait 4-6 weeks.
14.4.11 CR
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