%0 Journal Article
%T Rapid Point-of-Care Testing for Detection of HIV and Clinical Monitoring
%A D. R. Arora
%A Megha Maheshwari
%A B. Arora
%J ISRN AIDS
%D 2013
%R 10.1155/2013/287269
%X Reversing and arresting the epidemic of HIV are a challenge for any country. Early diagnosis and rapid initiation of treatment remain a key strategy in the control of HIV. Technological advances in the form of low-cost rapid point-of-care tests have completely transformed the diagnosis and management of HIV, especially in resource limited settings, where health infrastructure is poor and timely access to medical care is a challenge. Point-of-care devices have proven to be easy to transport, operate, and maintain, and also lower-skilled staff is equally able to perform these tests as compared to trained laboratory technicians. Point-of-care tests allow rapid detection of HIV allowing for rapid initiation of therapy, monitoring of antiretroviral therapy and drug toxicity, and detection of opportunistic infections and associated illnesses. 1. Introduction Testing and treatment are key elements in the effort to control HIV, and testing services are rightly considered as the gateway to the treatment facilities. Data suggest that HIV-infected individuals who are aware of their status are more likely to adopt risk reduction behaviour than those who are not as discussed by Higgins et al. [1]. With a diagnosis of AIDS, consideration may be given to the initiation of antiretroviral treatment, which reduces viral load and infectivity as discussed by Rotheram-Borus et al. [2]. From a public health perspective, it is advisable to recommend testing to those at risk for HIV and to make testing easily accessible. The idea is to detect every HIV positive whether it belongs to high risk group, a pregnant woman, or a patient of tuberculosis or reproductive tract infection approaching the health system for health needs and refer him/her to the nearest antiretroviral therapy (ART) centre. Providing quality laboratory services for HIV testing to all those who need it is a challenging task. 2. Point-of-Care Tests for HIV Point-of-care (POC) testing of HIV refers to the practice undertaken by health care professionals of providing pretest counseling, posttest counseling, and a preliminary HIV antibody result at the time of testing outside of a designated laboratory. The standard methods of HIV testing (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or western blot with confirmatory testing using p24 antigen detection or viral nucleic acid detection) can take several days for result availability as discussed by Arora et al. [3]. A significant proportion of individuals who agree to undergo HIV serologic testing do not return to the HIV testing site to receive their test results as
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.aids/2013/287269/