Measures of viral load using Abbott RealTime HIV-1 Assay on venous and fingerstick dried blood spots from provider-collected specimens in Malawian District Hospitals

DBS from venipuncture and fingerstick perform well at the failure threshold of 5000 copies/ml. Fingerstick specimen source may improve access to virologic treatment monitoring in resource-limited settings given task-shifting in high-volume, low-resource facilities.