Application of HIV antibody rapid test to voluntary counselling and testing

SHI Yu-hua; SU Ying-zhen; FANG Qing-yan; CHEN Min; CUI Wen-qing; CHEN Hui-chao; SU Xing-fang; MA Yan-ling

Abstract：Objective To explore the way to further shorten the waiting time for confirmed results and improve the detection rate of CD4+ T lymphocytes for HIV infections by applying HIV rapid test (RT) to voluntary counselling and testing (VCT), and comparing the consistency of results between RT and western blotting (WB). Methods Two reagents of RT were used for HIV screening, and WB was used for confirming test in positive samples found by one or two RT. The results were compared and evaluated. At the same time, blood samples were collected for the detection of CD4+ T lymphocytes. Results Among 1435 samples, 398 were found positive by one or two RT reagents. Among these 398 samples, 377 were confirmed positive by WB, with a consistent rate of 94.7%;379 samples were found positive by two RT reagents, and 376 were confirmed positive by WB, with a consistent rate of 99.2%; 1037 samples were found negative by two RT reagents, and among them HIV RNA positive sample was not found by pooling PCR. Conclusions The strategy of RT used for HIV screening and WB used for confirming can be applied to VCT and other urgent tests, which can shorten the waiting time for confirmed results and improve the detection rate of CD4+T lymphocytes for HIV infections. In addition, two RT reagents with high quality are suggested to be used together in HIV screening, so as to ensure test quality and avoid missing positives.