New oral HIV test's incorrect results alarm S.F. officials

A promising new oral HIV test being considered for home use has produced at least 47 false positives at San Francisco public health clinics, throwing a scare into those who received the results and raising questions about the test's suitability for widespread use in the United States and abroad.

The OraQuick Advance HIV test approved for professional use by the Food and Drug Administration in March 2004 detects in just 20 minutes antibodies to the virus that causes AIDS, using fluid swabbed from the mouth.

Its speed and ease of use make the test a particularly suitable candidate for HIV prevention and treatment efforts that stress frequent testing and speedy access to care for those who test positive.

San Francisco Department of Public Health officials were alarmed last week when their analyses of more than 6,000 oral tests since spring turned up 47 instances in which the results were positive, but follow-up tests showed those patients were not infected.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/09/AIDS.TMP

I mean, anybody that takes any kind of medical test at home is going to get a follow-up on a positive result (whether it's AIDS, blood sugar, pregnancy, whatever). So yeah, they may be freaked out and stressed, but a false positive isn't THAT big of a deal.

However, a false negative would give a false sense of security, so I'd say that those statistics are far more important.

years when they first saw it.

This is based on exactly what you said, a positive results in a confirmatory test using more detailed methods. There are things other than HIV antibodies that can result in a positive result on the initial test. The question is whether people getting their test via OraQuick are counseled as to the possibility of false positives. Rapid testing involves tradeoffs. Many people do not return for their results, so rapid testing could increase the numbers of people who know their serostatus. It could, as the poster below said, scare the hell out of people.

At any rate, everyone should know the risks, know their status, do their best to stay negative if they are and to stay healthy and keep others healthy if they are positive.