CAP TODAY Pathology/Laboratory Medicine/Laboratory Management
September 2019—Quest Diagnostics announced the availability of its test panel to guide therapy with HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. PrEP is the use of antiretroviral drugs to help prevent HIV infection in high-risk individuals who are not infected.
The laboratory-developed test panels are designed to include all laboratory tests recommended by the CDC to determine clinical eligibility for, and ongoing treatment with, PrEP. A baseline panel aids in ruling out infection with HIV, hepatitis viruses B and C, syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and renal dysfunction (creatinine with calculated eGFR) that would make PrEP unsafe. A monitoring panel aids in monitoring for continued negative status for HIV, creatinine levels, and STDs in patients taking PrEP. The female panel evaluates human chorionic gonadotropin for pregnancy status. A physician may order the monitoring panel every three months.