False-Positive Human Immunodeficiency Virus Screening Results in Pregnancy During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic

False-positive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) test results are rare but have been documented in the setting of certain underlying conditions such as Epstein-Barr virus, metastatic cancer, and certain autoimmune conditions. A retrospective cohort study in a large hospital system was conducted to compare the occurrence of false-positive HIV fourth-generation test results before and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in a population of pregnant patients (N=44,187; 22,073 pre-COVID and 22,114 during COVID). The COVID cohort had a significantly higher frequency of false-positive HIV test results compared with the pre-COVID cohort (0.381 vs 0.676, P=.002). Within the COVID cohort, 25% of patients had a positive polymerase chain reaction test result for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) preceding their false-positive HIV test results. When this subgroup was excluded, the difference in frequency of false-positive HIV test results between the cohorts was no longer significant (0.381 vs 0.507, P=.348). Our findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity was associated with an increased frequency of false-positive HIV test results in the pregnant population.

Automated summary

A retrospective cohort study compared the occurrence of false-positive HIV test results in pregnant patients before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study found a significantly higher frequency of false-positive results during COVID-19, which was associated with SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity. However, when patients with positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test results preceding the false-positive HIV results were excluded, the difference in frequency between the cohorts became non-significant.