HIV-1 testing during labor
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Widespread rapid HIV testing during labor would be cost-saving to the medical system, according to authors of the CDC-funded, 91,707-patient, Mother-Infant Rapid Intervention At Delivery (MIRIAD) trial. "Our study demonstrates that, in general, results are timely and that antiretroviral prophylaxis can be provided promptly to HIV-infected women and their infants," Marc Bulterys, MD/PhD, CDC, et al., explain in the July 14 issue of JAMA. Rapid HIV-1 tests administered during labor were 100% sensitive and 99.9% specific with a positive predictive value of 90%. Perinatal HIV testing would be especially valuable in the developing world, where "pregnant women with unknown HIV status are often seen by clinicians for the first time during labor," the authors note...