HIV Screening in ED Ensures Follow-Up

A routine oral fluid HIV screening program in the emergency department (ED) is identifying many patients who might otherwise go undetected and is also ensuring they get follow-up care.

The program, at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center (Baltimore, MD, USA), is one of the first in the United States to offer rapid HIV testing to any patient entering a hospital ED for evaluation and treatment. When patients are admitted to the department, each one will be offered the option of taking the oral fluid rapid HIV test. No blood needs to be drawn and the results are available in 20 minutes. The program is funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA) and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

According to the CDC, more than 55% of the patients tested for HIV with laboratory-based tests in hospital emergency departments in the U.S. are discharged before receiving their test results; only 10% referred from emergency departments to hospital clinics actually undergo HIV testing. Since the John Hopkins program was initiated, more than 50% of patients who were identified as HIV positive in the program were successfully transferred to follow-up care and treatment.

The oral fluid HIV screening program uses the OraQuick Advance rapid HIV-1/2 antibody test that can detect antibodies to both HIV-1 and HIV-2. The test was developed by OraSure Technologies Inc. (Bethlehem, PA, USA), which manufactures and markets oral fluid specimen collection devices, diagnostic products, and other medical devices. The president and CEO of OraSure, Douglas A. Michels, said, "A patient's HIV status can dramatically affect diagnosis and treatment. This program will help doctors make more timely and better informed clinical decisions, and will also permit HIV testing and follow-up treatment for individuals whose only contact with the healthcare system is through emergency departments”.





Related Links:
Johns Hopkins Hospital
OraSure Technologies Inc.