Saliva HIV test passes muster

Accuracy of saliva-based test is comparable to that of blood-based screening,says a study

A saliva test used to diagnose HIV is comparable in accuracy to the traditional blood test,says a new study led by Dr Nitika Pant Pai,an assistant professor of medicine at McGill University Health Centre,Canada. Dr Pai,who led the study published in the recent issue of The Lancet Infectious Diseases,said it has major implications for countries that wish to adopt self-testing for HIV.

With screening for HIV taking centrestage,our aim was to establish whether a convenient,non-invasive,HIV test that uses oral fluid was accurate in comparison with a test with blood-based specimens, Pai told The Sunday Express when contacted in Canada.

The meta-analysis,which compared studies worldwide,showed that the saliva HIV test,OraQuick HIV1/2,had the same accuracy as the blood test for high-risk populations. Although previous studies have shown that the oral fluid-based OraQuick HIV1/2 test has great promise,ours is the first to evaluate its potential at a global level. Pai said. The researchers analysed field research data from five worldwide databases. Their findings showed that the saliva test is 99 per cent accurate for HIV in high-risk populations,and about 97 per cent accurate in low-risk populations.

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OraQuick is also being considered for potential use as an over-the-counter test in the US and in many sub-Saharan countries. This move might revolutionise HIV testing by offering a proactive testing option to people who,because of stigma,do not go to public health centres to get themselves tested.

Dr Pais work is supported by Grand Challenges Canadas Rising Star in Global Health Award. There is huge global momentum for alternate HIV self-testing strategies that can inform people of their status, she said. Of course,self-testing must be accompanied by care to achieve good health outcomes, said the studys co-author,Dr Rosanna Peeling,professor and chair of diagnostics research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.