What is a Recent Infection Testing Algorithm (RITA)?

A RITA is a combination of laboratory tests used to classify an HIV infection as recent or long-term. A RITA helps A RITA is a combination of laboratory tests used to classify an HIV infection as recent or long- term. A RITA helps to reduce false recent classification when individuals are on ART and virally suppressed or are elite controllers. If a client tests recent on the TRI, viral load (VL) testing should be conducted to improve accuracy of classification. Those who test recent on the TRI and have aviral load ≥1,000 copies/mL should be classified as RITA-recent (Figure).

A proportion of persons on ART will test TRI-recent due to declining antibody avidity when the HIV viral load is A proportion of persons on ART will test TRI-recent due to declining antibody avidity when the HIV viral load is suppressed for a period of time. Similarly, some elite controllers may test TRI- recent because the low viral load does not support the development of strong antibody avidity. For these reasons, RITA is strongly recommended for all recent infection surveillance to improve the accuracy of RTRI classification.