Scientists recommend additional HIV testing method

Today's standard HIV tests can only detect the patient's antibodies, but scientists increasingly believe this may not be sufficient enough to identify everyone who is infected. For that reason, clinical work has been done to develop a better, more reliable test.

According to scientists from the University of California in San Diego, nucleic acid testing (NAT) can play that role as it appears to detect the presence of the virus that causes AIDS earlier.

To test their hypothesis, the researchers studied more than 3,000 patients who underwent HIV testing in community-based clinics in the San Diego area. They found that among those who had NAT testing the HIV detection yield was 23 percent higher.

Specifically, almost a quarter of individuals who tested negative for HIV on the rapid saliva test went on to have a positive result by NAT testing.

"Extending the use of NAT to routine HIV testing programs might help decrease the HIV incidence rate by identifying persons with acute infection that would otherwise be missed through routine screening," said the study's first author Dr Sheldon Morris, who is an assistant clinical professor at UC San Diego's Antiviral Research Center.