Table of Contents Newsletters & Articles Island News Women's News Conferences Guam Calendar The Arrow Family

No needles, please Over the next few months some HIV testing centers in the U.S., will completely replace conventional HIV blood tests with new oral fluid tests made by Epitope. The test, sold as OraSure, collects oral fluid known as oral mucosal transudate (OMT) from between a patient's cheek and gum. OMT has a higher concentration of HIV antibodies and is free of most contaminants found in saliva. The sample is then sent to a lab for testing. Research shows that OraSure, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in June, is more than 99.9 percent accurate in 3,570 subjects to determine its accuracy. The researchers concluded that OraSure was as accurate as serum testing. A test to detect HIV-1 antibodies without a blood draw has several advantages over the standard blood test, including increased safety for collection and handling of samples, increased patient compliance, and an alternative for patients in which blood sampling is difficult . They also suggest that the saliva test would be well-suited for use in a home HIV test kit, in large part because it does not involve the use of a needle, which is both safer and more advantageous to individuals with compromised venous access. Moreover, they note, the collection device is easy to use and portable: the samples remain stable for at least three weeks, which makes the test useful in outreach and remote sites. And because training related to oral testing is minimal, the device reduces the personnel costs associated with gathering samples for HIV testing.