Advancements in HIV Testing

Laboratory testing plays a key role in the proper diagnosis and management of HIV patients.

To learn more about changes taking place in the diagnostic algorithm for HIV, as well as current treatment strategies for disease management, laboratorians should sign up for AACC’s Nov. 19 webinar, “New Approaches to HIV: Recommendations on How to Test and Treat.”

Speakers include Bonny Lewis Van, PhD, FACB, HCLD (ABB), laboratory director of Marion County Public Health Department in Indianapolis, and Mark A. Marzinke, PhD, DABCC, FACB, director of pre-analytical chemistry and associate director of the clinical pharmacology analytical laboratory at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

One of the session’s highlights is the discussion of a new algorithm released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for diagnosing HIV infections.

“The new algorithm, together with 4th generation diagnostics, provides the potential to diagnose HIV infection sooner in the course of the disease. This has the potential to limit disease transmission, and to start therapy sooner by notifying patients of their infection earlier,” Van and Marzinke told CLN Stat.

Both manual and automated options exist to adopt the new HIV testing algorithm, they noted. However, these new tests aren’t always the right choice for every clinical situation.

“For instance, the very popular oral-fluid assays are not yet available in 4th generation versions. This is a great opportunity for the laboratorian to add value to the clinical team by providing expertise on test selection and the impact of these new tests,” Van and Marzinke suggested.

They also plan to discuss current recommendations for antiretroviral therapies (ART) to manage HIV-diagnosed patients who have not yet initiated this type of therapy, as well as recent findings from clinical trials.

“Further understanding challenges associated with non-adherence to ART can provide key information to laboratorians regarding disease management,” said Van and Marzinke.