Specimens reactive for HIV screening test must be repeated. Repeated reactive specimens and those with equivocal results must be referred to the National HIV Reference Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Singapore General Hospital (SGH), for confirmation.
Reactive results of HIV screening are only released at the specific request of the clinician-in-charge under 2 circumstances:
Management of a patient with acute infection or
Needle-stick injury cases.
Contact the Microbiologist on duty to enquire about the result. The laboratory does not actively contact the doctor in such cases.
Specimen collectors must also ensure that a sufficient amount of blood is taken for the HIV screening test so that a specimen can be sent to the National HIV Reference Laboratory for confirmatory tests should the screening test produce a reactive or equivocal result. Refer to WI Management of results.
