Canada: Quick HIV Test Is Faulty: Experts

Health officials are warning that a rapid method HIV blood test used at three Vancouver sites for several years may have given false negative results. Dr. John Blatherwick, chief medical health officer for the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, said about 5,000 people took the quick tests, but only one or two are likely to have HIV and be unaware of it. "The problem is there might be somebody out there who is reported to have tested negative who is actually positive. That's the concern," Blatherwick said.

The British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) has issued a public advisory for people who took the quick test, which involved a finger prick and typically yielded results in less than an hour. The standard test involves drawing a vial of blood and waiting several weeks for results.

Blatherwick said initial studies showed the rapid method test was reliable, but after it was put into use, a BCCDC doctor ran his own analysis of the test. "Dr. Mike Rekart, who's director of sexually transmitted diseases at the [center], started to do some tests and found that it was not producing the results that had been promised," he said.

Health officials said the rapid test has been discontinued. They recommend that anyone who had such a test contact the clinic where it was administered. The tests were performed at the Three Bridges Community Health Centre Clinic on Hornby Street, including the Vanguard Project; the Spectrum Health Care Clinic on Howe Street; and the Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic on 12th Avenue near Vancouver General Hospital.

Blatherwick said people who took the test should be sure to practice safe sex. "If you were tested recently, you probably should practice very safe sex for the next little while until your status is absolutely confirmed," he said.

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