Is rapid HIV testing more accurate than ELISA? - Dr. Ramakrishna Prasad

The point to keep in mind is that all tests have strength and weakness and no test in medicine is perfect. No test is 100% perfect and 100% specific. Both the ELISA test and the rapid test are amazingly accurate tests with accuracy rates to more than 95 to 97% in most situations, rapid tests tend to be very popular in clinical practice because they tend to be easy and can be performed immediately and you can get a result within less than 30 minutes. Their accuracy and sensitivity is about 25 points lower than the ELISA tests. But once again the things to keep in mind is that the sensitivity of rapid tests are 95 to 97& and ELISA test is 97 to 99%. It is just a couple of points and overall these are extremely accurate tests.