Effective Tuesday, October 14, 2014, there will be a change in the reflex confirmatory protocol for HIV testing.  The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics core clinical chemistry laboratory will continue to perform the HIV ANTIGEN/ANTIBODY COMBO (LAB7444) as the main screening test for HIV.

However, confirmation of repeatedly reactive specimen will now use the HIV-1/HIV-2 ANTIBODY DIFFERENTIATION BY MULTISPOT (LAB8105), replacing Western blot as the confirmatory method.  This testing sequence follows the specific multi-test HIV algorithm proposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/testing/lab/guidelines/).

The HIV-1/HIV-2 ANTIBODY DIFFERENTIATION BY MULTISPOT test is performed by reference laboratory and differentiates between HIV-1 and HIV-2.  This test is available only as the reflex confirmation and is not directly orderable by itself.

There are no changes in specimen requirements for HIV ANTIGEN/ANTIBODY COMBO (LAB7444).

Questions should be directed to Matthew Krasowski, MD, PhD, medical director of the Clinical Chemistry Laboratory (384-9380, matthew-krasowski@uiowa.edu).