Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date. The Asian hospital finally admitted to me they used a 4th Generation EIA by Roche.The instrument they used is called ROCHE COBAS CORE. As an expert in the field, have you ever heard of this diagnostic system and is it safe to trust the results on this COBAS CORE which can give results in two hours? This was an EIA which tests for antibody/antigen. Can a turnaround time of two hours be accurate and conclusive, the test was taken 13 weeks after exposure and again at 24 weeks, both negative antigen/antibody.
Mark H. Katz, M.D.
Regional HIV/AIDS Physician Coordinator
Kaiser Permanente of Southern California
The Roche Cobas Core was the first fully automated lab analysis system for immune system determinations. We are not experts enough to comment on whether or not this is an optimal system, but Roche is among the industry leaders in diagnostic tests. There are tests which are known to give turnaround in as little time as was yours. And a negative test at 13 weeks is fairly conclusive evidence that you do not have HIV. (Some experts recommend doing an addtional test at 6 months after the incident, but it is so rare to seroconvert after 3 months following an exposure that I can say I have never seen it happen.)
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