• New York State Department of Health. Diagnostic, monitoring, and resistance tests for HIV. New York (NY): New York State Department of Health; 2005 May. 12 p.

This is the current release of the guideline.

This guideline updates a previous version: New York State Department of Health. Diagnostic, prognostic, and resistance tests for HIV. New York (NY): New York State Department of Health; 2004. 18 p.

Diagnostic Tests

• Diagnostic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) tests must be performed in compliance with the New York State HIV Confidentiality Law, including written informed consent and full post-test counseling.
• HIV infection should be diagnosed using either the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or rapid testing; positive results are confirmed with a Western blot assay.
• Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic testing of plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells for HIV ribonucleic acid (RNA) or deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is recommended for establishing the diagnosis of infection in infants born to HIV-1-infected mothers.
• Clinicians should maintain a high level of suspicion for acute HIV infection in all patients presenting with a compatible clinical syndrome. When acute retroviral syndrome is suspected, a plasma HIV RNA assay should be used in conjunction with HIV-1 antibody test to diagnose acute or primary HIV infection.
• If a recent high-risk exposure to HIV is suspected, a baseline antibody test should be obtained. If the baseline test result is negative, tests should be repeated at 1, 3, and 6 months.
• An individual who tests negative 3 months after exposure but continues to engage in risky behavior should receive counseling to reduce his/her personal risk and the potential transmission to others. Such an individual should be offered repeat testing no more than every 3 months as long as risky behavior continues.

Refer to the original guideline document for discussions of specific serologic tests, including HIV-1 antibody screening assays (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA], home access HIV-1 test system, and rapid tests) and HIV-1 confirmatory antibody assays (Western blot, indirect immunofluorescence assay).

HIV-2

• Clinicians should ask questions regarding possible HIV-2 exposure to identify patients who require HIV-2 screening tests.

Alternative Antibody-Testing Technologies

See the original guideline document for a discussion of alterative antibody-testing assays that test body fluids other than blood (e.g., oral fluid or urine). (Note: The alternative antibody-testing assays are only approved for HIV-1 antibody testing and should not be considered for persons who may be at risk for infection with HIV-2.)

Viral Identification Assays

DNA Polymerase Chain Reaction (DNA-PCR)

• All initial positive DNA PCR reactions should be confirmed with a second PCR test on a separate specimen.

Plasma HIV RNA Assays

• A plasma HIV RNA assay should be used in conjunction with HIV-1 antibody test to diagnose acute or primary HIV infection.

Viral Culture

• A single positive viral culture for HIV should be confirmed with a second specimen.

Monitoring Tests

• Clinicians should measure and follow the CD4 percentage in addition to the absolute count.
• Clinicians should repeat CD4 or viral load results that are inconsistent with the clinical presentation before management decisions are made.

Lymphocyte Analysis

• HIV clinicians should measure and follow the CD4 percentage in addition to the absolute count.

Viral Load Assays

See the original guideline document for a discussion of various viral load assays, which quantify the amount of HIV-1 RNA circulating in the infected patient's blood (e.g. Roche Amplicor HIV-1 Monitor and Roche Amplicor HIV-1 Ultrasensitive, Versant HIV-1 RNA 3.0 assay, and the NucliSens HIV-1 QT assay).

Drug Resistance Tests

• When resistance tests are obtained, expert advice in interpretation is strongly encouraged.
• Genotypic resistance testing should be performed before initiating treatment in anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy-naive patients to determine whether they were infected with drug-resistant virus.
• Resistance testing should be performed promptly in cases of virologic failure or incomplete viral suppression.
• Resistance testing should be performed while patients are still receiving therapy or have been off therapy for no more than 1 year.

See the original guideline for further discussion and description of genotype and phenotype assays for testing drug resistance.

None provided

Recent clinical trial and epidemiological data have contributed to the current guidelines for the use of resistance tests, although long-term data are lacking.

• New York State Department of Health. Diagnostic, monitoring, and resistance tests for HIV. New York (NY): New York State Department of Health; 2005 May. 12 p.

Not applicable: The guideline was not adapted from another source.

2004 (revised 2005 May)

New York State Department of Health - State/Local Government Agency [U.S.]

New York State Department of Health

Medical Care Criteria Committee

Committee Chair: Amneris Luque, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, Medical Director, AIDS Center, Strong Memorial Hospital

Committee Vice-Chair: Sheldon Brown, MD, Liaison, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Associate Professor of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, Chief, Infectious Disease Section, Bronx Veteran Affairs Medical Center (111F)

Committee Members: Bruce Agins, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY, Medical Director, AIDS Institute, New York State Department of Health; Doug Fish, MD, Head, Division of HIV Medicine, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Albany Medical College; Charles Gonzalez, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, Clinical Investigator, AIDS Clinical Trials Unit, New York University Medical Center - Bellevue Hospital Center; Harold Horowitz, MD, Professor of Medicine, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, Medical Director, AIDS Care Center, Division of Infectious Diseases, Westchester Medical Center; Marc Johnson, MD, Attending Physician, New York Hospital Queens, Flushing, NY, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, Medical Director, New York Hospital Queens Primary Care at ACQC; Jessica Justman, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, Associate Director, Center for Infectious Disease Epidemiologic Research, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University; Sharon Mannheimer, MD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York, Division of Infectious Diseases, Harlem Hospital Center; Neal Rzepkowski, MD, HIV Care Consultant, New York State Department of Corrections, WENDE HUB, HIV Care Provider, Erie County Medical Center Rural Outreach Clinics, Chautouquez County Department of Health HIV Clinics; Kent Sepkowitz, MD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Rona Vail, MD, HIV Clinical Director, Callen-Lorde Community Health Center; Barry Zingman, MD, Medical Director, AIDS Center, Montefiore Medical Center

Liaisons: Barbara Chaffee, MD, MPH; Joseph R. Masci, MD; Noemi Nagy

Not stated

This is the current release of the guideline.

This guideline updates a previous version: New York State Department of Health. Diagnostic, prognostic, and resistance tests for HIV. New York (NY): New York State Department of Health; 2004. 18 p.

None available

This NGC summary was completed by ECRI on February 1, 2005. This summary was updated by ECRI on August 4, 2005.