Diagnosis of HIV infection using mass community rapid testing in Santiago, Chile

Background: Chile has had the highest increase in new HIV infections in Latin America in the last ten years. Therefore, Chile should follow the WHO recommends on the use of rapid testing in the community to reduce the enormous barriers to diagnosis that exist until today. The objective of this study...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pablo Ferrer, Carla Bastias, Carlos Beltrán, Alejandro Afani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2022-02-01
Series:Journal of Clinical Virology Plus
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667038022000047
_version_ 1798016130128805888
author Pablo Ferrer
Carla Bastias
Carlos Beltrán
Alejandro Afani
author_facet Pablo Ferrer
Carla Bastias
Carlos Beltrán
Alejandro Afani
author_sort Pablo Ferrer
collection DOAJ
description Background: Chile has had the highest increase in new HIV infections in Latin America in the last ten years. Therefore, Chile should follow the WHO recommends on the use of rapid testing in the community to reduce the enormous barriers to diagnosis that exist until today. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of rapid tests prior diagnosis of HIV infection in the general population using mass testing in the community. Study design: Six HIV rapid tests were evaluated using positive and negative plasma panels. Moreover, the Ag/Ab assays were revaluated using whole blood obtained from HIV-positive and seronegative individuals. After evaluation, we selected an Ag/Ab test to determine the prevalence of HIV infection in the study participants. A total of 3,102 people were included. Results: In the evaluation with plasma and whole blood the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) was 100% for the tests. In the 3102 study participants, we found a total of 41 reactive individuals. After adjustments, a total of 32 people who participated in the study were diagnosed with HIV infection. These results indicate that the Ag/ab assay had a high sensitivity, specificity, NPV, and PPV. Conclusions: We validated available rapid tests and demonstrated the feasibility of mass testing in the community. Confidentiality was guaranteed with a link to healthcare. After adjustments, we found an HIV infection prevalence of 1.03%. This is twice the estimate of official sources. Therefore, rapid tests have adequate sensitivity and specificity for use in HIV diagnostics.
first_indexed 2024-04-11T15:44:59Z
format Article
id doaj.art-a3cde5ae2ffc4534858e09ce612af302
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2667-0380
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-11T15:44:59Z
publishDate 2022-02-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Journal of Clinical Virology Plus
spelling doaj.art-a3cde5ae2ffc4534858e09ce612af3022022-12-22T04:15:36ZengElsevierJournal of Clinical Virology Plus2667-03802022-02-0121100064Diagnosis of HIV infection using mass community rapid testing in Santiago, ChilePablo Ferrer0Carla Bastias1Carlos Beltrán2Alejandro Afani3Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Clinical Hospital University of Chile, Carlos Lorca Tobar 999 floor 5 Sector E, Independencia, Santiago de Chile, Chile; Corresponding author.Immunology Laboratory, Clinical Hospital University of Chile, ChileBarros Lucos Trudeau Hospital and SIDA CHILE Corporation, ChileLaboratory of Molecular Medicine, Clinical Hospital University of Chile, Carlos Lorca Tobar 999 floor 5 Sector E, Independencia, Santiago de Chile, ChileBackground: Chile has had the highest increase in new HIV infections in Latin America in the last ten years. Therefore, Chile should follow the WHO recommends on the use of rapid testing in the community to reduce the enormous barriers to diagnosis that exist until today. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of rapid tests prior diagnosis of HIV infection in the general population using mass testing in the community. Study design: Six HIV rapid tests were evaluated using positive and negative plasma panels. Moreover, the Ag/Ab assays were revaluated using whole blood obtained from HIV-positive and seronegative individuals. After evaluation, we selected an Ag/Ab test to determine the prevalence of HIV infection in the study participants. A total of 3,102 people were included. Results: In the evaluation with plasma and whole blood the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) was 100% for the tests. In the 3102 study participants, we found a total of 41 reactive individuals. After adjustments, a total of 32 people who participated in the study were diagnosed with HIV infection. These results indicate that the Ag/ab assay had a high sensitivity, specificity, NPV, and PPV. Conclusions: We validated available rapid tests and demonstrated the feasibility of mass testing in the community. Confidentiality was guaranteed with a link to healthcare. After adjustments, we found an HIV infection prevalence of 1.03%. This is twice the estimate of official sources. Therefore, rapid tests have adequate sensitivity and specificity for use in HIV diagnostics.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667038022000047HIVRapid testVisual testAg/Ab assay
spellingShingle Pablo Ferrer
Carla Bastias
Carlos Beltrán
Alejandro Afani
Diagnosis of HIV infection using mass community rapid testing in Santiago, Chile
Journal of Clinical Virology Plus
HIV
Rapid test
Visual test
Ag/Ab assay
title Diagnosis of HIV infection using mass community rapid testing in Santiago, Chile
title_full Diagnosis of HIV infection using mass community rapid testing in Santiago, Chile
title_fullStr Diagnosis of HIV infection using mass community rapid testing in Santiago, Chile
title_full_unstemmed Diagnosis of HIV infection using mass community rapid testing in Santiago, Chile
title_short Diagnosis of HIV infection using mass community rapid testing in Santiago, Chile
title_sort diagnosis of hiv infection using mass community rapid testing in santiago chile
topic HIV
Rapid test
Visual test
Ag/Ab assay
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667038022000047
work_keys_str_mv AT pabloferrer diagnosisofhivinfectionusingmasscommunityrapidtestinginsantiagochile
AT carlabastias diagnosisofhivinfectionusingmasscommunityrapidtestinginsantiagochile
AT carlosbeltran diagnosisofhivinfectionusingmasscommunityrapidtestinginsantiagochile
AT alejandroafani diagnosisofhivinfectionusingmasscommunityrapidtestinginsantiagochile