My day was spent shadowing our clinic lab technician,
Abel. Not only is he a phenomenal technician,
he is a great teacher and freely explained how he goes about testing for HIV
and malaria. Since today was Friday, the
WE-ACTx for Hope clinic conducts free HIV testing for anyone who wants to be
tested. Today there were 5 patients were tested. There are a series of 3 different tests that are performed, with the first being the most sensitivity and the last being the least.
The Screening test is done is Rapid POC (point of care) HIV test labeled "CG" which stands for "Colloidal Gold". The Confirmatory test is a "Det" which stands for the "Determine HIV 1/2" test. Lastly, the Tie Breaker test is called "Unigold".
If the first 1 "Screening" test is negative, or the "Screening" and "Confirmatory" tests are both positive, then the third "Tie Breaker" is not performed. However, if there is a discrepancy after performing all 3, the samples are taken to the national laboratory and an ELISA test is done.
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| Abel, our lab technician, records the results of the HIV testing for today. |
Here's are videos that
explains the HIV testing and
recording the results on the form that will be given to patients.
