Authored By: B. V Waghmare

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Testing for HIV infection

Tests for HIV are used to detect the presence of HIV infection in ones body, the tests can detect the HIV in blood , urine and saliva , the main principle behind these tests are detection of HIV antibodies, antigen or RNA of HIV. And the tests employed for detection are

1. ELISA

2. Western Blot

3.Polymerase Chain Reaction.

4.Rapid point of care test kits

A. Home Access Express HIV-1 Test
B. OraQuick this test can be applied on saliva or oral swabs.
C. Orasure
D. Uni-Gold
E. Clearview Complete HIV 1/2 and Clearview HIV 1/2 Stat-Pak
F. INSTI™ HIV-1 Antibody Test is the latest test available to which gives result in 60 seconds.
G. Reveal HIV

If ELISA or other point of care test is positive the test result must be confirmed with Western Blot, ELISA test alone can not be used for confirmation of positive result. PCR test involves direct detection of HIV RNA which is considered highly accurate.

When a test result for HIV is false negative? (actually HIV positive but tests show negative results)

Result of the HIV test may be negative or false negative immediately after encountering the HIV infection as seroconversion do not occur immediately it may take about 30 days to develop antibodies against HIV, in certain cases it may take longer time therefore if the person has not taken any medication should be tested immediately after 30 days, if he is tested positive a confirmatory test must be done, even if the patient is tested negative the test should be conducted again after a period of 30 days, if there is a history of risk of getting HIV infection in the patient they should be given pre exposure prophylactic drugs for HIV until further confirmatory test are done.

If a person has taking post exposure prophylactic medications for HIV, then the test may not give positive result even after 30 days, therefore the person should be advised to do test again after period of 30 days for about seven to eight months without discontinuing the medications.

Information about Various tests for HIV

The ARCHITECT HIV Ag/Ab Combo Assay: This HIV test is capable of identifying HIV infection in early stage as it detects both HIV 1 antigen p24 and antibodies hence helps in early detection of HIV infection

There are many tests kits available in market which are used as rapid HIV testing kits, which are used as the point of care tests kits, they are used in hospitals and other places where it is required to find out if a person is HIV positive or not, not only blood sample but the saliva and urine can be used with these test kits for knowing if a person is HIV positive or not, all positive results obtained with the rapid test kit tests must be confirmed with Western Blot. One must take up the regular tests like ELISA followed by Western Blot or PCR for confirmation of HIV testing results.


HIV infection and AIDS is on of the disease which has affected millions of homes world wide , and if we do not work today to prevent HIV it will be a biggest enemy of mankind.
There is only one effective way to protect every on from getting HIV infection is to educate every one about how HIV is spread from one individual to other and how it is not transmitted.
The most important aspect of HIV prevention is getting HIV test done, it is very difficult to convince people to get HIV testing done, they should be encouraged to take up HIV testing if they are more susceptible for getting HIV infection.
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Source:
Lists of tests for HIV screening

HIV Testing/resources/qa

OraQuick Rapid Tests for HIV

FDA approved rapid antibody tests for HIV 

PCR test for HIV nucleic acid detection
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Refer following pages for detailed information on HIV virus and Its prevention and AIDS symptoms  HIV symptoms and research