Infectious Disease Rapid Tests Available in Clinics On Cloud

A rapid test, also called a rapid diagnostic test or RDT, is a point-of-care screening test that detects specific antigens or antibodies in a small sample, usually a finger-prick drop of blood, and returns a visible result at the testing site within minutes.

Rapid tests are screening tests. A rapid test result indicates that markers were or were not detected in that sample, at that moment, under those conditions. It is not a diagnosis, and it is not a substitute for a laboratory.

Every reactive rapid test result on this panel requires confirmatory laboratory testing and clinical review by a qualified physician before any conclusion is reached. That applies to all 10 tests, without exception. A non-reactive result also has limits, because early infection can precede detectable markers, which is why timing and clinical judgement matter.

Clinics On Cloud is India’s first CDSCO-licensed Health ATM and Health Kiosk manufacturer, based at Nighoje, Chakan MIDC, Pune. Clinics On Cloud is not a diagnostic laboratory and does not replace one.

Blood grouping sits inside this module because it uses the same point-of-care workflow, not because it screens for infection. Blood typing for any clinical purpose, and for transfusion above all, must be confirmed by a laboratory. Never rely on a kiosk blood group result for a transfusion decision.

No sensitivity or specificity figures appear in this table. Those figures are specific to each kit and each manufacturer’s instructions for use, and quoting an unattributed number in health content is worse than quoting none. Ask your supplier for the current instructions for use and CDSCO approval status of every kit supplied with your unit.

• A trained operator explains the test and takes informed consent. HIV consent and counselling requirements are stricter, and are covered in the next section.
• A sterile single-use lancet obtains a finger-prick blood sample, or the appropriate sample is collected per the kit’s instructions for use.
• The sample is applied to a disposable cassette. Capillary action carries it across a membrane holding pathogen-specific antigens or antibodies.
• A line or colour change develops within the time window stated by the kit manufacturer. Read times differ by test, and reading outside that window invalidates the result.
• The kiosk’s integrated reader captures the result, reducing the variation that comes from reading a faint line by eye.
• The result is recorded in the digital health record and delivered in a colour-coded report by print, SMS, email or WhatsApp, with confidentiality controls applied.
• Reactive results trigger an integrated teleconsultation and a referral for confirmatory laboratory testing.

Clinics On Cloud states device accuracy of 90 to 95 percent depending on test and device, under correct usage, calibration and patient preparation. The platform carries CDSCO licensing, ISO 13485, US FDA, CE, ISO 27001, HIPAA and GDPR credentials and is VAPT tested.

Consumables discipline makes or breaks a rapid test programme: in-date kits, correct storage temperature, one lancet and one cassette per person, biomedical waste handling per the applicable rules, and a trained operator. Budget for all of it before the first camp.

HIV screening is handled differently from every other test on this panel, and it should be.

A reactive HIV rapid test result is not a diagnosis of HIV infection. It indicates that antibodies were detected in that sample by a screening test. HIV status is established through confirmatory testing under the national testing framework, performed at an authorised facility, and communicated by a trained counsellor or clinician.

India’s HIV testing policy and counselling framework is set by the National AIDS Control Organisation. Any deployment offering HIV screening must follow it: informed consent, pre-test and post-test counselling by trained personnel, strict confidentiality, and referral to an authorised testing and care facility. Confirm current requirements with NACO guidance and your state AIDS control society, and do not run HIV screening without trained counselling support in place.

Three rules for any employer, CSR sponsor or camp organiser:

• HIV screening is always voluntary, always consented, and never a condition of employment, admission or benefit.
• Results go to the individual and the counsellor or clinician only. No sponsor, employer or supervisor ever receives individual results.
• A person with a reactive result must leave with a supported referral to an authorised facility, not with a piece of paper.

The same principle applies to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and syphilis screening, which carry stigma and need the same care.

Rapid test panels are not for indiscriminate use. Screening should be targeted, consented and clinically justified, ideally under a protocol set by a qualified physician or a public health programme.

• Communities where vector-borne illness is seasonally common, during and after the monsoon.
• People presenting with fever at a camp or primary care setting, where a physician has indicated screening.
• Populations covered by government and National Health Mission drives, run under the applicable protocol.
• Workforces in construction, mining, transport and migrant labour camps with limited laboratory access.
• CSR and community health programmes in districts where the nearest testing facility is far away.
• Individuals choosing voluntary, confidential HIV, hepatitis or syphilis screening with counselling available.
• Blood donation drive participants, for grouping, with laboratory confirmation before any clinical use.

Two groups should not be screened at a kiosk in place of medical care: anyone seriously unwell, and anyone with warning signs such as high fever with severe pain, bleeding, breathlessness, persistent vomiting or reduced consciousness. They need a qualified physician immediately, not a queue at a camp.

A non-reactive result indicates the test did not detect the marker it looks for in that sample at that time. It does not prove the absence of infection, since markers can take time to become detectable after exposure. If symptoms are present or exposure is suspected, see a qualified physician regardless.

A reactive result indicates the marker was detected by a screening test and that confirmatory laboratory testing and clinical review are required. It is not a diagnosis. It does not tell you how long an infection has been present, how active it is, or what should be done about it.

An invalid result indicates a test problem, usually sample, timing or storage, and should be repeated properly rather than interpreted.

Do not take any medicine on the basis of a screening result. This page names no treatment for any condition on the panel, deliberately. Antimicrobial and antiviral decisions belong to a qualified physician working from confirmed results. Across the Clinics On Cloud network, 2 lakh+ abnormalities have been detected and routed for early intervention, and the value in that figure is the routing, not the flag.

Rapid tests trade depth for reach. They work at a village camp with no power, in a plant gate cabin and on a mobile unit at a panchayat office, returning an answer while the person is still standing there. The trade is that a rapid test looks for one marker in one small sample under field conditions, while laboratory methods quantify, differentiate, repeat and confirm. Clinical decisions belong on the laboratory side of that line.

A programme that hands out reactive results with no confirmation pathway causes distress that may prove unfounded, can create false reassurance, and discredits itself locally. Contract the laboratory partner before you contract the kiosk. For the wider parameter set alongside the panel, see clinical parameters and tests offered by a health kiosk, diabetes screening with random blood sugar and HbA1c and cardiac tests explained: ECG, blood pressure and lipid profile.

Camps often pair the panel with skin, hair and nail imaging for teledermatology, since both use the same teleconsultation pathway.

To plan a screening camp, an outbreak response deployment or a district-level drive, call +91 8999 073 447, Monday to Saturday, 9:00 to 18:00 IST, or email sales@clinicsoncloud.com. Bring your clinical protocol, your laboratory confirmation partner and your counselling arrangement for HIV and hepatitis, because those three decide whether the screening produces care or only produces results.