HIV Testing After a First Positive Rapid Diagnostic Test: A Role for Nucleic Acid Testing?

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2018 Aug 29;5(8):ofy170. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofy170. eCollection 2018 Aug.

Abstract

We developed an open-access, Excel-based model simulating currently recommended and alternative algorithms for adult HIV testing as a preliminary investigation of trade-offs between accuracy and costs. Despite higher costs, simpler HIV testing algorithms incorporating point of care nucleic acid testing may improve outcomes and thus merit additional research and field testing.

Keywords: accuracy; costs; human immunodeficiency virus; nucleic acid tests; rapid diagnostic tests.