Oraquick Rapid Test - Contradicting Results

[Harryd]

Hi ,
I recently got a followup HIV test done and I'm concerned regarding the results. The last time I did the test was on Feb 2012 and it came out negative. This time I went to a different clinic. They did the Oraquick rapid test . After 20 min they told me that I was Positive. They did not say how the line appeared nor did they mention this was an intermediate test. I was obvious very shocked , as I was not expecting this. I asked for another test but they refused it. However, they took a different test and said it would be more through testing and will get the results in 2 weeks. This test was done with a swab as well but was place between the gums and cheek for 3 minutes.

As I was very worried , the same evening I purchased a home oraquick rapid test kit from Walgreens. I did the test immediately following the procedures very carefully. After the long 20 min wait , it came out NEGATIVE ! . I was even more confused and had a slight of relief with this test result.

The next day , I went to the same clinic I did on Feb. Did the oraquick rapid test and it came out NEGATIVE !! The HIV Tester was very puzzled as to why it would have come out positive with the other clinic and reassured me that it is negative and I should not worry about it.

I called my primary physician and explained what had happened. He recommended I get a blood test done . This blood test like the Swab test will look for the ELISA antibodies and if it is positive they will do a test for Western Blog to confirm. So I did go to the lab to got the blood work done. The results came back after a couple of days. The result was NEGATIVE !!

This leave me with 1 -Intermediate positive and 3- Negatives. Now I am waiting for the 2 week testing to come back.

I hope this result come back NEGATIVE as well. This whole experience it very stressful. Not one of them that I spoke to told me that it could be a false positive. They all acted as if this cannot happen. Well, the same test was repeated two more times but had a different result.

I would really appreciate your feedback.  Am I infected ?

[RapidRod]

Hasn't this been gone over with you before?

[jkinatl2]

One of my objections to the home-issued OraQuick/Orasure test is the elevated rate of false positives. And it sounds as if you received one.

While I understand, from an epidemiology point of view, making a test more sensitive than specific to avoid false negatives. However, this can lead to panic if the testing professional is not aware of this and does not communicate this.

[Harryd]

One of my objections to the home-issued OraQuick/Orasure test is the elevated rate of false positives. And it sounds as if you received one.............

Thanks for the quick response. Thanks for confirming this may be a false positive. I completely agree with you that that Testing Professionals should be aware of the nuances this test could have. Giving a strong positive with no room for a possible alternate result will lead to panic. This could be very dangerous for some people with mental instability.   In my case I panicked but pulled myself together at the right time and better understood this process. After doing some research I understand the oraquick test could have false positives for many different reasons.

This test is easy to do and has it advantageous but seems like it has issues. I was told that different clinics use different version of this testing equipment. Not sure if there an more improved version in the market. The one I used from Walgreens was recently released in the market (2 months back). I did call the customer care and the representative  could only comment on the "Home Kit" , which I purchased. She mentioned that it is 99.99% accurate.  This one came out negative.

Now I guess I just need to wait for the final test to come in. Many professional feel with the recent Negatives (including the blood work) this test will come back Negative as well. If it does come back Positive , I will have a whole lot of new issues to address. May be another blood test
I hope it doesn't come to that.

[Ann]

Harry,

False positive results can and do happen on the rapid tests. A person should not be told they are definitely hiv positive until such time as another positive antibody result has been obtained and that has been backed up with a positive Western Blot result as well.

Given your subsequent negative results on other tests, it does look as though you are hiv negative.

However, one thing you neglected to mention - when was the last time you had a risk such as unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse (the only proven sexual risks)? Provided the last time you had a true risk was at least three months ago (before the tests), then I would definitely assume you had one false positive result.

The vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive by six weeks, with the average time to seroconversion being only 22 days. A six week negative is highly unlikely to change, but must be confirmed at the three month point.

So even if the last time you had a true risk was at least six weeks ago, I would assume you had a false positive. If it's only been a few weeks since your last risk, you may still be in the window period. False negatives normally only happen when a person is still firmly in the window period (less than six weeks).

By the way, I deleted your pointless response to Rod's pointless comment so you still have one free post left. Please think before you post and use it wisely.

Ann