TY - JOUR
T1 - Potential for false positive HIV test results with the serial rapid HIV testing algorithm
AU - Baveewo, Steven
AU - Kamya, Moses R.
AU - Mayanja-Kizza, Harriet
AU - Fatch, Robin
AU - Bangsberg, David R.
AU - Coates, Thomas
AU - Hahn, Judith A.
AU - Wanyenze, Rhoda K.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the participants, the study team and the management of Mulago hospital. Funding This study was funded by National Institute of Mental Health (1 R01 MH077512), Division of AIDS and Health and Behavior Research, Center for Mental Health Research on AIDS. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Background: Rapid HIV tests provide same-day results and are widely used in HIV testing programs in areas with limited personnel and laboratory infrastructure. The Uganda Ministry of Health currently recommends the serial rapid testing algorithm with Determine, STAT-PAK, and Uni-Gold for diagnosis of HIV infection. Using this algorithm, individuals who test positive on Determine, negative to STAT-PAK and positive to Uni-Gold are reported as HIV positive. We conducted further testing on this subgroup of samples using qualitative DNA PCR to assess the potential for false positive tests in this situation. Results: Of the 3388 individuals who were tested, 984 were HIV positive on two consecutive tests, and 29 were considered positive by a tiebreaker (positive on Determine, negative on STAT-PAK, and positive on Uni-Gold). However, when the 29 samples were further tested using qualitative DNA PCR, 14 (48.2%) were HIV negative. Conclusion: Although this study was not primarily designed to assess the validity of rapid HIV tests and thus only a subset of the samples were retested, the findings show a potential for false positive HIV results in the subset of individuals who test positive when a tiebreaker test is used in serial testing. These findings highlight a need for confirmatory testing for this category of individuals.
AB - Background: Rapid HIV tests provide same-day results and are widely used in HIV testing programs in areas with limited personnel and laboratory infrastructure. The Uganda Ministry of Health currently recommends the serial rapid testing algorithm with Determine, STAT-PAK, and Uni-Gold for diagnosis of HIV infection. Using this algorithm, individuals who test positive on Determine, negative to STAT-PAK and positive to Uni-Gold are reported as HIV positive. We conducted further testing on this subgroup of samples using qualitative DNA PCR to assess the potential for false positive tests in this situation. Results: Of the 3388 individuals who were tested, 984 were HIV positive on two consecutive tests, and 29 were considered positive by a tiebreaker (positive on Determine, negative on STAT-PAK, and positive on Uni-Gold). However, when the 29 samples were further tested using qualitative DNA PCR, 14 (48.2%) were HIV negative. Conclusion: Although this study was not primarily designed to assess the validity of rapid HIV tests and thus only a subset of the samples were retested, the findings show a potential for false positive HIV results in the subset of individuals who test positive when a tiebreaker test is used in serial testing. These findings highlight a need for confirmatory testing for this category of individuals.
KW - False positive
KW - HIV testing algorithm
KW - Qualitative PCR testing
KW - Rapid diagnostic tests
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U2 - 10.1186/1756-0500-5-154
DO - 10.1186/1756-0500-5-154
M3 - Article
C2 - 22429706
AN - SCOPUS:84858325010
SN - 1756-0500
VL - 5
JO - BMC Research Notes
JF - BMC Research Notes
M1 - 154
ER -