Rapid HIV Testing

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Rapid HIV Testing

AIDS Clinical Care (12/96) Vol. 8, No. 12, P. 103
Sax, Paul E.

Abstract: The most commonly-used HIV antibody tests are sent to laboratories and can require one to two weeks for results, even though the test can be completed in 24 hours. A rapid test offers the advantage of one-stop testing, outcome, and counseling; provides immediate results for women in labor; and can guide postexposure prophylaxis decisions in health care settings. Researchers at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital in New York City evaluated the accuracy of a rapid assay which takes 10 minutes and requires no special equipment. Using standard tests to confirm the findings of the rapid assay, they found that the rapid test had a sensitivity of 1.00 and a specificity of 0.991. The researchers also reported that about half of the study participants did not return for the results of their standard tests, including more than one-third of the infected patients. The patients could not be informed of the results of the rapid test because it is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. An editorial accompanying the study strongly encourages the development and use of the rapid test in the United States, where two such tests are currently approved and are not widely used.

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