False-positive human immunodeficiency virus screening test related to rabies vaccination

We report a false-positive result on an enzyme immunoassay screening test for antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus in a 32-year-old nonpregnant woman who belonged to none of the usual risk groups. Because of the patient's employment in an animal care facility, she had received a series of three vaccinations for rabies, and 16 days after the last vaccination, she had donated a unit of blood. It was during routine screening on a sample drawn at the time of donation that the repeatedly reactive enzyme immunoassay screening test occurred. The results of a Western blot were indeterminant. A polymerase chain reaction assay was negative for proviral DNA.