TESTING

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING FAQ'S BEFORE E-MAILING TESTING.

QUESTION: What is HIV?

ANSWER:  Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the virus that weakens the immune system and causes HIV disease and AIDS.

QUESTION: How can I tell if I'm infected with HIV?

ANSWER:  The only way a person can find out if he/she is infected with HIV is by taking the HIV antibody test. The HIV antibody test measures the presence of antibodies to HIV in the blood. The test should be taken 3-6 months after the last time a person may have been at risk.

QUESTION: What are HIV symptoms?

ANSWER:  On average initial symptoms are flu-like fever, chills, body aches and swollen lymph nodes. Symptoms may last up to two weeks. Some people do not experience any symptoms or have symptoms so mild that they may not notice them. When symptomatic HIV disease develops a person may experience night sweats, fever, fatigue, involuntary weight loss, diarrhea, swollen lymph nodes, oral candidiasis and vaginal yeast infections.

QUESTION: How is HIV transmitted?

ANSWER:  The four common means of transmission are unprotected sexual intercourse (anal, vaginal, oral); sharing of injection drug paraphernalia or “works;” this includes needles, syringes, cookers, and other injection equipment; from an infected woman to her fetus (vertical or perinatal transmission) or mother to child through infected breast milk (neonatal transmission); through other direct exposure to infected blood or needle sticks (occupational transmission), open cuts or sores, or other breaks in the skin that would facilitate direct blood-to-blood exposure.

QUESTION: What is the window period?

ANSWER:  The window period is the time it takes for a person who has been infected with HIV to develop antibodies. The CDC definition of a three to six month window period has been commonly used for a number of years. For most individuals, antibodies will develop after three months; however, this is not true for everyone.

QUESTION: What is an anonymous test?

ANSWER: An anonymous test means that absolutely no one has access to your test result since your name is never associated with the test or the test results. In anonymous settings, the client is expected to give informed consent, but to protect anonymity, the consent is not written. Anonymous Test Sites never give written results.

Anonymous test sites are highly recommended because the quality of the education and counseling is very good; the testing is usually free; it protects you from risks of discrimination or adverse impact, especially in applications for health insurance. Sometimes even taking an HIV test, regardless of the result, might cause a health insurance application to be rejected

QUESTION: What is confidential testing?

ANSWER:  Confidential antibody testing means that you and the health care provider know your result and that it may also be recorded in your medical record. In addition, if you use Medi-Cal or insurance to pay for an HIV test, the result (and even the fact that the test was ordered) will be available to insurance companies through computer networks. However, some physicians may agree to omit the test results from the medical record. In confidential settings, the client must give written informed consent. Some reasons for confidential testing include: the requirement for written result to satisfy immigration process or sometimes for personal reasons; a pregnant woman, who clearly is at risk, choosing to be tested through her doctor, rather than anonymously, since the result is of key importance to the course of medical care; potential faster linkages to medical care and other benefit programs.

QUESTION: What is OraSure HIV test?

ANSWER:  OraSure is not a saliva test. It is a test for antibodies found in mucosal transudate, which can be found in saliva. It uses a technology that draws mucosal transudate, containing antibodies and not virus, from the blood stream through cheek and gum tissues and then onto a specially treated collection pad. (Note: the saliva and oral mucus contain antibodies to HIV itself, so HIV is not transmitted through these fluids.)  The cotton collection pad is placed between the cheek and lower gum for two minutes. The sample is sent to a lab, where it undergoes an ELISA procedure. All positive ELISA samples undergo a Western Blot confirmatory test. The combined accuracy of OraSure ELISA and Western Blot procedures is comparable to traditional blood testing. OraSure is 97% accurate. A blood test is 99% accurate.

QUESTION: What is the difference between OraSure and the blood test?

ANSWER: OraSure is for use in persons 13 years and older; the non-invasive testing is done by placing cotton pads in the mouth to collect test specimens. Blood testing can be done on persons of any age. Here, a needle is inserted into a vein to collect blood into a tube for testing.

With Orasure it is not necessary to puncture a vein by drawing blood, making it a good option for people with small veins or for those who are afraid of needles. However, all confirmatory tests for HIV are peformed by testing blood samples. If you test positive via the Orasure test or a blood draw sample, you will be tested again to verify that the first results were correct using a blood draw sample.

QUESTION: How accurate are the HIV tests?

ANSWER:  HIV tests are extremely accurate. The CDC states that the combined accuracy of the ELISA plus either the Western Blot or IFA (indirect immunofluorescence assay) is greater than 99%. However as with any laboratory test, there can be false positives and false negatives. False positives are very rare; these can be due to medical conditions or other causes which have nothing to do with HIV/AIDS. It is also possible to test negative but be infected with HIV. If the infection is recent, meaning under 6 months old, the body may have not had enough time to produce antibodies to be detected.

QUESTION: What does a negative HIV test mean?

ANSWER:  A negative HIV test means that HIV antibodies have not been found in your blood at this time; you are probably not infected or you are in the window period. However, a negative test result does not mean: you are not infected with HIV (you may still be in the “window period”); you are immune to AIDS; you have a resistance to infection; you will never get AIDS.

QUESTION: What does a positive HIV test mean?

ANSWER:  A positive test result means that you have HIV in your blood; you have been infected with the virus. People with a positive result should assume that they have the virus and could infect others or become re-infected. They should not donate blood, organs or tissue and must stop breastfeeding. They must practice safer behaviors like protected sex and must not share needles. They should also inform sex and/or needle sharing partners about their status.

A positive HIV test result does not mean: you have AIDS; you will necessarily get AIDS; you are immune to AIDS, even though you have antibodies.

QUESTION: Why should I test for HIV?

ANSWER:  The benefits of testing for HIV include: regardless of the result, testing often increases your commitment to overall good health habits; if you test negative, it may relieve the anxiety associated with the decision to get tested; if you know you are HIV-positive, you can take advantage of immune system monitoring and early treatment and intervention, which can prolong your ability to fend off illness and may, ultimately, prolong your life; by taking the test, you can find out whether or not you have infected or are infecting others; if you test positive, you may be able to identify who infected you and notify them – it’s possible they don’t know they are positive and are infecting others; if you test positive and are considering pregnancy, you or your partner can take advantage of treatments that potentially prevent transmission of HIV to the baby; prevention or intervention counseling can provide a critical opportunity to assist you in identifying your risk of acquiring or transmitting HIV; counseling also provides an opportunity to negotiate and reinforce a plan to reduce or eliminate the risk of transmission.

QUESTION: What is informed consent?

ANSWER: Informed consent, in the context of HIV antibody testing, is legally defined to require practitioners to disclose to clients both the risks and the benefits of the HIV test, and the alternatives to the test. It is also to ensure that clients demonstrate the mental capacity to understand this information and freely agree, without coercion, to have the test performed.

QUESTION: At what age can a person give informed consent for HIV testing?

ANSWER:  In California the legal age to give consent for HIV testing is 12 years of age or older.

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