Performance of rapid HIV testing using Determine HIV-1/2 for the diagnosis of HIV infection during pregnancy in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the rapid antibody test Determine HIV-1/2, in pregnant women at Tijuana General Hospital. Pregnant women seeking prenatal care or admitted in labour had blood drawn for a rapid HIV test (Determine HIV-1/2), enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and Western blot. Between March and November 2003, 1068 women in labour and 1529 women in prenatal care were enrolled. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 100%, 99.8%, 77% and 100%, respectively. For women in labour, the mean time between blood collection and rapid test results was 92 minutes (range: 20-205 minutes) compared with 41 hours (range 24-120 hours) for HIV EIA (P = 0.012). All HIV-exposed infants received oral zidovudine. These findings indicate that the rapid test Determine HIV-1/2 has a high sensitivity and specificity in pregnant women. Rapid HIV testing greatly diminishes the time to diagnosis and enables prompt intervention with antiretrovirals at delivery.