Armstrong-Mensah Elizabeth, Tetteh Ato Kwamena, Choi Seung
School of Public Health, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, USA.
Int J MCH AIDS. 2021;10(1):1-6. doi: 10.21106/ijma.423. Epub 2020 Dec 30.
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a global threat to health. To prevent and control the disease caused by the virus, developed and developing countries continue to invest heavily in research and equipment so as to accurately detect the virus. The utilization of highly sensitive and effective rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) have the potential to detect HIV in high-burden countries, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Yet, in SSA, challenges associated with HIV-RDT result inaccuracy, HIV misdiagnosis, poor tester capacity, and the improper storage of HIV-RDT kits have negatively impacted the benefits, and threaten to undermine HIV prevention. This paper focuses on the utilization of RDTs in HIV diagnosis in SSA, HIV-RDT challenges, and the effects of HIV-RDT challenges on HIV prevention. Subsequent to reviewing available literature, the authors found that although HIV-RDTs can negatively impact HIV-prevention efforts in SSA due to the likelihood of false positive HIV diagnoses, they generally provide quick results for people in resource poor settings, and do not require them to return to the testing sites to obtain their results. Obtaining accurate rapid HIV results means people who test positive can immediately seek care and take steps to prevent future transmission of the virus.
人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）仍然是对全球健康的一大威胁。为预防和控制该病毒引发的疾病，发达国家和发展中国家持续在研究和设备方面投入巨资，以便准确检测该病毒。利用高灵敏度且有效的快速诊断检测（RDT）有潜力在高负担国家，尤其是撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）地区检测HIV。然而，在撒哈拉以南非洲地区，与HIV-RDT结果不准确、HIV误诊、检测人员能力不足以及HIV-RDT试剂盒储存不当相关的挑战，对其益处产生了负面影响，并有可能破坏HIV预防工作。本文聚焦于撒哈拉以南非洲地区HIV诊断中RDT的使用情况、HIV-RDT面临的挑战以及HIV-RDT挑战对HIV预防的影响。在查阅现有文献后，作者发现，尽管由于HIV诊断出现假阳性的可能性，HIV-RDT可能会对撒哈拉以南非洲地区的HIV预防工作产生负面影响，但它们通常能为资源匮乏地区的人们快速提供检测结果，且无需他们返回检测地点获取结果。获得准确的HIV快速检测结果意味着检测呈阳性的人可以立即寻求治疗，并采取措施预防病毒的未来传播。
