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South Africa is recalling 500,000 SD
Bioline HIV test kits, the health ministry said today.
Health spokesperson Joe Maila said
authorities are investigating how the tests were ordered earlier this year,
despite a World Health Organization warning in November that the test produced
inconclusive results. After WHO again flagged the problem in June, the kit’s
South Korean maker recalled it.
WHO said the finger-prick blood test
did not return false results but was plagued by inconclusive readings. “The
test displayed an unacceptably high rate of invalid test results,” WHO said.
“Thus no test interpretation is possible and so one is likely to have no result
rather than an incorrect result.”
All the tests “have been recalled as
a precaution,” Maila said. Local media reported the cost of the kits as 22.5
million rand (US $2.8 million).
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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