Diagnosing HIV Infection

Rapid HIV Tests

In addition to the standard HIV ELISA, rapid diagnostic tests have been developed. Rapid diagnostic tests can be helpful in identifying HIV infection in women in labor who have not had pre-natal HIV testing (so as to identify those in need of antiretroviral therapy to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV) and in testing source patients in needle-stick injuries (so as to identify health care workers in need of post-exposure prophylaxis).

The single-use diagnostic system (SUDS) HIV-1 test (Abbott Laboratories) has been the only FDA-approved test available for rapid diagnosis of HIV-1 infection in the United States. This 10-minute agglutination test uses HIV-1 antigen-coated latex beads, which are incubated together with patient serum or plasma to generate a result. Sensitivity and specificity are greater than 99% (30). However, at the present time the SUDS test has temporarily been withdrawn from the market due to manufacturing problems.

4/15/01

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