Quest Diagnostics, Secaucus, NJ, has announced the availability of a new test panel to guide human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) therapy with preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP). PrEP is the use of antiretroviral drugs to help prevent HIV infection among high-risk individuals who are not infected.
The company’s laboratory-developed test panel includes all of the laboratory tests recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine clinical eligibility for PrEP. A baseline panel aids in ruling out conditions that would make the use of PrEP unsafe, including infection with chlamydia, gonorrhea, hepatitis B or C, HIV, and syphilis, as well as renal dysfunction (creatinine with calculated eGFR).
The panel also aids in monitoring PrEP patients for continued negative HIV status, creatinine levels, and sexually transmitted infections. Each panel is available by male or female gender, with the female panel also evaluating human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) for pregnancy status. A physician may order the monitoring panel as frequently as every 3 months.
The panel benefits both the patient and the provider. With a physician’s order, a patient may provide a specimen at any of the company’s patient service centers, and review results at a glance in the company’s mobile patient app, MyQuest.
Because all of the panel’s tests are performed on a single specimen, patients may need to provide less specimen than if the tests were ordered individually. Additionally, a patient may be less likely to need to revisit the doctor’s office or a patient service center because the physician did not order all of the appropriate tests during an office visit.
For further information, visit Quest Diagnostics.
Featured image: Infectious disease testing. Photo courtesy Quest Diagnostics.
