According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least one in seven Americans living with HIV don’t even know it! This is quite alarming since such individuals are likely to transmit the virus to other partners without knowing. Besides, it is necessary to find out one’s HIV status to allow for earlier treatment to extend life expectancy as well as protect their loved ones from contracting the infection.
A recommendation by the same institution is that everybody between the age of 13 and 64 must get tested at least once in their lifetime. Regular testing is, however, recommendable especially when indulges in unprotected sex with multiple partners or uses drug injections.
It is not surprising that many people fear to present themselves to the voluntary counseling and testing centers for privacy reasons. However, this should never be an excuse to not getting tested and knowing your status. Currently, home HIV tests are available. The two common home HIV tests are the Home Access HIV-1 Test System and OraQuick In-Home HIV test. These are available online and locally available in chemists and hospitals.
If you choose to order your home test online through phone, always ensure that the HIV test is FDA approved beforehand to ensure safety and accuracy are guaranteed.
Home Access HIV-1 Test System
This is a home collection kit which allows you to do a personal test on your blood sample and getting it delivered to a licensed lab where you will call to get your results after a day or so. The amazing fact about this test is that it is anonymous and follow up test can be performed immediately if the result turns out to be positive. After the process, the manufacturer offers confidential counseling and referral treatment. This type of test on a sample of blood collected at home finds infection later than tests undertaken at the lab using blood from the veins but much earlier compared to test conducted on oral fluids.
An excellent place to order this type of HIV test kit is Amazon among other reputable sites. However, Home Access Health Corporation has strongly come out as among the best places to seek the HIV-1 test system and be guaranteed over 99.9 percent accuracy within a day. They have been FDA approved and offer phone counseling. This type of test has been evaluated in various multi-center clinical studies in the US and proven to be as accurate as tests done by doctors and hospitals.
OraQuick In-Home HIV Test
This is a home collection kit that provides rapid results. Testing involves swapping of the mouth to collect a sample of oral fluid and using the kit for testing. It takes barely 30 minutes to get results. In case you test positive, it is recommended to have a follow-up test as soon as possible. The manufacturer also provides confidential counseling and follow-up tests. Since the level of antibody in oral fluids is lower than in blood, this test finds infection later after exposure than in blood tests. This means, there is a high chance of false negative results with the test.
HIV testing dongle and App
Well, technology has advanced, and today, sexually active men and women can screen various STIs like syphilis and HIV using their Smartphones. This new app is coming out as a low-cost accessory to perform HIV test and get results in as little as 15 minutes. You only need a small sample of blood by pricking and using the dongle and app, which uses a scientific method to interpret data and recreate the functions of a real lab-based test. This type of test is referred to as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) powered by a Smartphone. According to a report by Science Translational Medicine, the app has a sensitivity of between 92% and 100% and specificity of between 79-100%. This diagnostic package is available mostly in clinics around resource-poor communities. According to a 2016 report, there is also another testing option that uses a USB stick and a drop of blood. However, this option is yet to be approved by the FDA and released to the general public. The results in many of the initial experiments are quite promising as it already indicates an accuracy of about 95%. We look forward to this testing option.
No more worries about getting tested when all these phone tests are at your disposal.
References:
https://www.healthline.com/health/hiv-aids/home-rapid-test
https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/testing.html
https://www.homeaccess.com/product/home-access-express-hiv-1-test-system-next-day-results/
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