HIV Tests: Experts Ask if Faster Is Better; Some Fear Treatment, Counseling Will
Suffer
Denver Post (10.13.02) - Monday, October 21, 2002
Allison Sherry


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The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve OraQuick - a new test
that will tell people within 20
minutes whether they are HIV-positive -
soon, although the exact date is unclear. Some doctors praise OraQuick as an
easy way to reach high-risk people who
might never visit a health clinic - or
return to one to collect their results. Critics, however, say many people
actually benefit from a days-long wait for test
results because it gives them time to
reconsider their high-risk behavior. OraQuick works like a pregnancy test and
costs $10 to $15.

Johnn Young, director of prevention at Colorado AIDS Project, said he is uneasy
about how the traditional counseling of
HIV patients will be folded into the
quick-test process. In fact, Colorado officials plan to hold a summit next month
with national experts on how to begin
using the test in Colorado's clinics and
doctors' offices.

HIV prevention officials at the CDC say OraQuick will allow health workers to
test a broader spectrum of people. It also
may eliminate the portion of patients,
30 percent, who get tested but never come back for the results. Twenty-five
percent of those with HIV in the United
States do not know they have it, said
Rob Janssen of the CDC's division of HIV/AIDS prevention. "We know that when
people learn they are positive with
HIV, their behavior changes. It really
provides an opportunity for someone to get treatment and care," he said.

Proponents say the test is so hard to misuse that AIDS workers and even
volunteers could test prostitutes on street
corners and men going into bathhouses.
But a 1999-2001 study by Dr. John Douglas with the Denver Health Medical Center
found that patients who underwent
rapid HIV testing were 12 percent
more likely to contract an STD later, compared to those who had slower testing.
Because the quicker tests also have
higher false-positive rates, doctors will
recommend patients go through more rigorous blood work to ensure accuracy.
Colorado health officials are working to
set up a 24-hour phone bank whose
counselors will be on hand for people whenever they learn their test result -
even if the result comes from a health van at
2 a.m.
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