Assessing Very Early Infant Diagnosis Turnaround Times: Findings from a Birth Testing Pilot in Lesotho
Table 2
Turnaround time (in days) for all cohort study children diagnosed as HIV-infected at birth and 6 weeks during the entire cohort study (July 2014–October 2016).
Blood draw to receipt at NRL+
Receipt of specimen at NRL to testing at NRL
Testing at NRL to result receipt at health facility
Result receipt at facility to receipt by caregiver
Blood draw to receipt by caregiver
Infant age at receipt by caregiver
Result receipt by caregiver to treatment initiation
Blood draw to ART initiation
Infant age at treatment initiation
Diagnosed by birth DNA PCR test
All infants,
3
3
3
5
5
5
5
5
5
Median time (IQR)
21.0
2.0
12.0
1.0
38.0
43.0
0
38.0
45.0
(12.0–21.0)
(0–4.0)
(12.0–16.0)
(0–4.0)
(35.0–40.0)
(41.0–45.0)
(0–1.0)
(35.0–48.0)
(43.0–49.0)
All infants, range
12.0–21.0
0–4.0
12.0–16.0
0–19.0
28.0–61.0
29.0–61.0
0–8.0
28.0–62.0
29.0–62.0
Diagnosed by 6-week DNA PCR test
All infants,
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
Median time (IQR)
30.5
7.0
8.0
4.0
49.5
97.5
6.5
56.0
104.0
(28.0–33.0)
(6.0–8.0)
(8.0–8.0)
(3.0–5.0)
(49.0–50.0)
(93.0–102.0)
(0–13.0)
(49.0–63.0)
(102.0–106.0)
number of infants contributing to each step varied as some dates were not available to calculate all steps for each infant. values are presented in days except for the number of infants contributing to each step (); ART: antiretroviral therapy; IQR: interquartile range; : number; NRL: National Reference Laboratory.