Test results from the Oraquick rapid HIV test are slightly more accurate when they use blood samples compared with saliva samples, according to a University Health Center of Montreal study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases and reported by MedPage Today. Sensitivity—the accuracy of positive test results—was 2 percent higher for Oraquick blood tests, with the blood test exhibiting 99.68 percent sensitivity as opposed to 98.03 for oral tests. Specificity—the accuracy of negative test results—was virtually identical for both blood and oral tests. The Oraquick test, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2004, is highly popular in developing countries, but the study’s results may not be applicable in those countries because the data was gathered primarily in high-income, developed settings.

To read the MedPage Today article, click here.