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Apr. 29th, 2004 08:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivkaThere are lots of opportunities to participate in research studies where I work, but I've mostly shied away from them. I don't really want to take an experimental anthrax vaccine, for example, although I was sort of tempted, in the middle of the post-9/11 smallpox hysteria, by the dilute smallpox vaccine trial.
Yesterday I did participate in a study of one of the rapid HIV tests. It's currently only approved for use in hospitals and medical testing labs, but the company's seeking FDA approval for ordinary doctors' offices. Before they can get approval, they need evidence that people who aren't medical technicians can administer and read the test. That's where my fellow research participants and I came in.
I was given six samples of plasma which, I was assured, had been heat-treated so they were no longer infectious. I was also given six Ora-Quick rapid test kits and a set of instructions. The lab guy helped me suit up in a protective gown and gloves and told me to test the samples. I wasn't allowed to ask him any questions, and he wasn't allowed to demonstrate or explain anything except sterile technique (like how to wash my hands at the end). He did tell me to use a different pipette for each sample, which I think he shouldn't have done. I mean, I knew not to contaminate the samples, but you'd think it would be something they'd want to make sure that all the participants knew it without being directly instructed.
It's an easy test. The test kit is a small plastic box that looks a lot like the older kind of pregnancy test - there's a little round well where you put the test sample, and then an exposed strip where the test results appear. You use a little disposable pipette to put a drop of blood or plasma into the sample well, and then add four drops of test solution from the kind of bottle that eyedrops come in. That's it. You wait ten minutes, and pink lines appear in the results window. Two lines = HIV+, one line = HIV-. "I am allowed to tell you that the test line can be very faint, and still positive," the lab guy told me, slightly anxiously. I've studied the directions for pregnancy tests fervently enough that I was already clear on the concept, and I found the samples easy to read.
He wasn't supposed to tell me how I did, but he did say that if I ever want to change careers I would make an excellent lab tech. Heh.
It was a fun way to earn ten dollars, which I promptly blew on a nicer-than-usual lunch. Mmm, roasted lamb pita.
Yesterday I did participate in a study of one of the rapid HIV tests. It's currently only approved for use in hospitals and medical testing labs, but the company's seeking FDA approval for ordinary doctors' offices. Before they can get approval, they need evidence that people who aren't medical technicians can administer and read the test. That's where my fellow research participants and I came in.
I was given six samples of plasma which, I was assured, had been heat-treated so they were no longer infectious. I was also given six Ora-Quick rapid test kits and a set of instructions. The lab guy helped me suit up in a protective gown and gloves and told me to test the samples. I wasn't allowed to ask him any questions, and he wasn't allowed to demonstrate or explain anything except sterile technique (like how to wash my hands at the end). He did tell me to use a different pipette for each sample, which I think he shouldn't have done. I mean, I knew not to contaminate the samples, but you'd think it would be something they'd want to make sure that all the participants knew it without being directly instructed.
It's an easy test. The test kit is a small plastic box that looks a lot like the older kind of pregnancy test - there's a little round well where you put the test sample, and then an exposed strip where the test results appear. You use a little disposable pipette to put a drop of blood or plasma into the sample well, and then add four drops of test solution from the kind of bottle that eyedrops come in. That's it. You wait ten minutes, and pink lines appear in the results window. Two lines = HIV+, one line = HIV-. "I am allowed to tell you that the test line can be very faint, and still positive," the lab guy told me, slightly anxiously. I've studied the directions for pregnancy tests fervently enough that I was already clear on the concept, and I found the samples easy to read.
He wasn't supposed to tell me how I did, but he did say that if I ever want to change careers I would make an excellent lab tech. Heh.
It was a fun way to earn ten dollars, which I promptly blew on a nicer-than-usual lunch. Mmm, roasted lamb pita.
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no subject
Date: 2004-04-29 07:38 am (UTC)A rapid HIV test sounds like a really cool thing.