False-Positive Human Immunodeficiency Virus Screening Results in Pregnancy During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-1-2023

Publication Title

Obstetrics and gynecology

Abstract

False-positive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) test results are rare but have been documented in the setting of certain underlying conditions such as Epstein-Barr virus, metastatic cancer, and certain autoimmune conditions. A retrospective cohort study in a large hospital system was conducted to compare the occurrence of false-positive HIV fourth-generation test results before and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in a population of pregnant patients (N=44,187; 22,073 pre-COVID and 22,114 during COVID). The COVID cohort had a significantly higher frequency of false-positive HIV test results compared with the pre-COVID cohort (0.381 vs 0.676, P =.002). Within the COVID cohort, 25% of patients had a positive polymerase chain reaction test result for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) preceding their false-positive HIV test results. When this subgroup was excluded, the difference in frequency of false-positive HIV test results between the cohorts was no longer significant (0.381 vs 0.507, P =.348). Our findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity was associated with an increased frequency of false-positive HIV test results in the pregnant population.

Medical Subject Headings

Pregnancy; Female; Humans; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Retrospective Studies; Pandemics; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections; COVID-19 Testing; Clinical Laboratory Techniques; Herpesvirus 4, Human; HIV Infections; HIV

PubMed ID

37411035

Volume

142

Issue

2

First Page

381

Last Page

383

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