![]() For most HIV testing, this confirmatory testing is done on the same sample in the laboratory. Most rapid screening tests use fingerstick blood.Īs with all screening tests, reactive blood screening tests must be confirmed with a Western Blot test. This is the test that is used most often in public health clinics and doctors’ offices. Depending on test type, blood from a venipuncture or fingerstick will be used. The most frequently used HIV antibody test detects HIV antibodies in blood. HIV antibody tests are designed to detect HIV antibodies in blood, urine, or oral fluid (oral mucosa transudate) samples. Because of the window period (the delay before seroconversion), a followup blood test should be done after three months. There are fingerstick blood tests available as an initial screening however, all must be verified by a Western Blot Test. If the ELISA is positive, an additional blood test, the Western Blot Test, must be sent to a lab, which takes about a week. How would you explain the testing process?Ī: They can have a blood test called ELISA, which detects if there are antibodies triggered by HIV, and results can be determined within 20 minutes. Q: A friend suspects they have been exposed to HIV through sexual contact and want the fastest test to find out if they have HIV. All babies born to mothers with HIV will have HIV antibodies present in their blood but may not actually have HIV. For people at high risk who receive a negative HIV test, retesting at three months is recommended. A false negative may result during the window period before antibodies have been created. For this reason, it is critical that reactive screening tests be verified with a confirmatory test and that clients not be told they are infected with HIV unless the confirmatory test verifies that HIV antibodies are present. Someone not infected with HIV may test reactive on a screening test because the test detected proteins related to other autoimmune diseases and gave a positive result. This test is much more specific, and therefore more costly, than the EIA screening test.įalse Results. The HIV Western Blot detects antibodies to the individual proteins that make up HIV. If a rapid test is reactive, an additional specimen must be drawn from the client and sent to the lab for confirmatory Western Blot testing. This is done because there is a small chance that an HIV screening test may detect proteins related to other autoimmune diseases and react to those proteins with a false positive result. Reactive (antibodies detected) results from a rapid test must be confirmed. Rapid tests are also screening tests, but they are conducted at the test site, often with the client present, and negative results are available in under an hour. If the screening test is reactive (positive) at the laboratory, a confirmatory Western Blot test is conducted on the same sample. If a screening test is negative (no HIV antibodies are detected), the results can be released to the client. Most HIV antibody screening tests are conventional, in that the specimen is collected from the client and sent to a laboratory for testing. Screening tests are inexpensive and highly accurate. This type of test screens for the presence of antibodies to HIV in blood, urine, or oral fluid. The first test done on a specimen is a screening test called an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (EIA or ELISA). Currently, these antibody tests involve a two-step process utilizing a screening test and, when the screening test is reactive it is positive, which is a confirmatory test. Since then, new HIV antibody tests have been developed and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The first HIV antibody test became available in 1985. ![]() Those who are uninfected can learn to take steps to avoid infection and those who are infected can be proactive to take care of their own health as well as to avoid passing the infection on to others. It is important for anyone at risk of HIV infection to get tested. By the time they find out they are infected, they have missed opportunities to take care of their health and avoid passing the infection on to others. ![]() Since most people don’t have symptoms for years, they do not find out their status until later in the disease progression. Some people do not find out that they are infected with HIV until they get sick or show symptoms and go to a clinic or hospital and get a test to find out their HIV status. Without being identified as a carrier of HIV they can unknowingly pass HIV infection on to others. These people do not know they are infected and that they need medical care. The CDC believes that many people in the United States have HIV but have not been tested for it. ![]()
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