{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,26]],"date-time":"2026-10-26T17:37:28Z","timestamp":1793036248739,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777852800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009054","name":"U.S. President\u2019s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NU2GGH001920"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NU2GGH001920"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009054","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Zambia established a recent infection testing algorithm (RITA) incorporating a novel point-of-care (POC) rapid test\u2014the Asant\u00e9\u2122 HIV-1 Rapid Recency\u00ae Assay (RTRI)\u2014plus a HIV-1 viral load (VL) test to distinguish recent (\u226412 months) from long-term (&gt;12 months) HIV acquisition. This study evaluated the field performance of RTRI when implemented by healthcare workers at the POC.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We enrolled individuals newly diagnosed with HIV between 20 May 2021 and 10 March 2022 at two Ministry of Health facilities in Lusaka, Zambia. Participants received on-site RTRI testing and provided an additional sample for repeat RTRI and VL testing at a central laboratory. Final recent infection testing algorithm (RITA) results were returned to the study sites and were made available to clients at their study follow-up visit. Agreement between POC- and laboratory-RTRI was assessed using Cohen\u2019s Kappa. We compared recent versus long-term HIV classification across testing locations using the national RITA as the reference standard. Four focus group discussions (FGDs) with health staff explored perceptions surrounding POC-RTRI implementation.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Agreement between POC and laboratory RTRI was 96.5%, with a Kappa of 0.812 (95% CI: 0.704\u20130.920). The POC-RTRI results indicated numerically more recent infections than laboratory-RTRI (30 vs 27), with three POC-RTRI false positives resulting in reduced sensitivity 85.0% for the POC-RTRI compared to 100.0% sensitivity for the laboratory-RTRI against the RITA reference standard. FGD participants (n\u2009=\u200928) agreed that POC RTRI was feasible and acceptable with adequate training, human resources, client counselling, and quality assurance measures.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>There was strong concordance between POC- and laboratory-RTRI results. The findings support the feasibility of implementing RTRI at POC by non-laboratory health workers, provided adequate training and health system resources are in place.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0346868","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T17:39:30Z","timestamp":1777916370000},"page":"e0346868","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["The Asant\u00e9\u2122 HIV-1 Rapid Recency\u00ae Assay is reliable, feasible, and acceptable for use at the point-of-care in Lusaka, Zambia"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Shilpa S.","family":"Iyer","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6312-4420","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jake M.","family":"Pry","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Herbert","family":"Kapesa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Misinzo","family":"Moono","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chilambwe","family":"Mwila","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christiana","family":"Frimpong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mirriam","family":"Nanyangwe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lumbani","family":"Phiri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ruth","family":"Ngandu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Precious","family":"Sakanya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sharon","family":"Mwansa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Talandila","family":"Phiri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mizinga","family":"Haciwa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Patricia","family":"Maritim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kemba","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Melissa","family":"Arons","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tiffiany","family":"Aholou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Minchella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Theodora","family":"Savory - 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