Why get tested?
One in seven people with HIV are unaware of their infection. It is very important to get tested for HIV. People who know they are HIV positive can seek medical care which involves taking antiretroviral medication. Knowing if you have HIV can make a difference on decision making regarding sex, drug use, and healthcare.
- Studies indicate that all people with HIV infection, including those with early infection, benefit from antiretroviral medications.
- Effective treatment lowers the level of HIV in the blood (viral load), reduces HIV-related illness, and reduces the spread of HIV to others. This results in HIV infected people living healthier and longer.
- HIV treatment can reduce HIV spread by 96%.
- Knowledge of infection allows HIV infected people to protect others from becoming infected. Studies have shown that many people with HIV who know that they are infected avoid behaviors that spread infection to others with whom they have sex or share drugs and needle5.
- HIV-infected persons who do not know that they are infected do not avoid unsafe behaviors.
Who should get tested?
The CDC recommends that everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 get tested at least once and that high-risk groups get tested more often. Behaviors that put people at risk for HIV are having vaginal or anal sex without a condom or sharing injection drug equipment with someone who has HIV. For those who continue having unsafe sex or sharing injection drug equipment, you should get tested at least once a year. Sexually active gay and bisexual men may benefit from more frequent testing (e.g., every 3 to 6 months).
What tests are available?
There are three types of HIV diagnostic tests. If initial test is positive, follow up testing is done. Tests can be done in the clinic or at home. Currently there are only two home HIV tests: the Home Access HIV-1 Test System and the OraQuick In-home HIV test. If you buy your home test online make sure the HIV test is FDA-approved.
- Antibody tests: detect antibodies (proteins) that your body makes against HIV, not HIV itself. May be done in a lab or as a rapid test at the testing site. It can be done using blood or oral fluid (not saliva). Blood will have higher levels of antibodies and will find infection sooner than an oral fluid test
- A rapid test is a type of antibody test used for screening. The results are produced quickly (30 min or less). Use blood or oral fluid. Most blood-based lab tests find infection sooner after exposure than rapid HIV tests.
- Antigen/antibody tests: detect HIV directly. Find recent infection sooner than tests that only detect antibodies. They can detect HIV as soon as 3 weeks after exposure to the virus. Can only be done using blood.
- RNA (nucleic acid) tests: detect HIV directly. Can detect HIV at around 10 days after infection (as soon as it appears in the bloodstream). More costly than antibody tests and are generally not used for screening (more as a follow up test after a positive antibody test or as part of a clinical workup).
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