Leveraging a Rapid, Round-the-Clock HIV Testing System to Screen for Acute HIV Infection in a Large Urban Public Medical Center

Methods The hospital laboratory performed round-the-clock rapid HIV antibody testing on venipuncture specimens from patients undergoing HIV testing in hospital and community clinics, inpatient settings, and the emergency department. For patients with negative results, a public health laboratory conducted pooled HIV RNA testing for acute HIV infection. The laboratories communicated positive results from the hospital campus to a linkage team. Linkage was defined as one outpatient HIV-related visit. Results Among 7,927 patients, 8,550 rapid tests resulted in 137 cases of HIV infection (1.7%, 95% CI 1.5%–2.0%), of whom 46 were new HIV diagnoses (0.58%, 95% CI 0.43%–0.77%). Pooled HIV RNA testing of 6,704 specimens (78.4%) resulted in 3 cases of acute HIV infection (0.05%, 95% CI 0.01%–0.14) and increased HIV case detection by 3.5%. Half of new HIV diagnoses and 2/3 of acute infections were detected in the emergency department and urgent care clinic. Rapid test sensitivity was 98.9% (95% CI 93.8%– 99.8%); specificity was 99.9% (95% CI 99.7%–99.9%). Over 95% of newly diagnosed and out-of-care HIV-infected patients were linked to care. Conclusions Patients undergoing HIV testing in emergency departments and urgent care clinics may benefit from being simultaneously screened for acute HIV infection.