Deck 13: Testing for Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Question 1

What is the relationship between false-positive results and prevalence of HIV in the population?

Answer 1

The percentage of false positives will increase as the prevalence of HIV-infected people in a population decreases.

Question 2

Do you think that targeting HIV testing at high-risk groups might be a more effective way of identifying people who are unaware of their HIV status than conducting routine testing among all U.S. residents ages 13 to 64? Do you think that perhaps the CDC should just consider what changes it can implement to make it easier for people to learn their HIV status and go with that?

Answer 2

Not Answer

Question 3

In an HIV screening test, what is a positive predictive value? Why is it called a predictive value?

Answer 3

It is a screening test value that represents the probability that a positive HIV test is truly positive; because screening tests are not 100% accurate.

Question 4

What is the current gold standard of confirmatory tests in the United States?

Question 5

What is the major problem in using this test?

Question 6

Why is the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) considered so useful in HIV testing? Name two situations when PCR can be significant in HIV testing.

Question 7

What is the acronym for the most commonly used HIV-antibody test, and what does each letter stand for?

Question 8

How quickly can one get reliable HIV test results using the OraQuick HIV test?

Question 9

What basic immunological assumption is this test based on?

Question 10

Two home-use HIV antibody test kits are now available in the United States.

Question 11

Does a single positive HIV antibody result mean the person is HIV infected? Explain.

Question 12

Using the ELISA test, when are HIV antibodies first detectable?

Question 13

Is there a specific test for AIDS? Explain.

Question 14

How early are HIV antigens detectable in human serum?

Question 15

What is currently the most frequently used HIV confirmatory test in the United States?

Question 16

What are three benefits of early identification of HIV-infected people?

Question 17

What is the name of one additional confirmatory test in use in the United States?

Question 18

Name the four kinds of testing privacy available to people who want to take an HIV test.

Question 19

How is HIV antibody detected in the ELISA test?

Question 20

What is the major difference between an anonymous and a blind HIV test?

Question 21

All newborns who are antibody positive are HIV infected and all go on to develop AIDS.

Question 22

Why would someone want an anonymous test?

Question 23

What is the greatest shortcoming of the ELISA and WB tests?

Question 24

The ELISA serological test is adequate to confirm HIV infection.

Question 25

What are the two major problems in interpreting ELISA test results?

Question 26

Pre- and post-HIV-antibody test counseling is recommended any time an HIV antibody test is performed.

Question 27

What two factors may account for false-positive and false-negative results?

Question 28

What are reasons for and against blinded testing?