How Is Hiv Test Done

Should You Get Tested For Hiv

Everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 should get tested for HIV at least once. If your behavior puts you at risk after you are tested, you should think about being tested again. Some people at higher risk should get tested more often.

If your last HIV test result was negative, you should get an HIV test if you answer “yes” to any of the questions below about your risk since that test:

• Are you a man who has had sex with another man?
• Have you had sexanal or vaginalwith an HIV-positive partner?
• Have you had more than one sex partner?
• Have you injected drugs and shared needles or works with others?
• Have you exchanged sex for drugs or money?
• Have you been diagnosed with, or sought treatment for, another sexually transmitted disease?
• Have you been diagnosed with or treated for hepatitis or tuberculosis ?
• Have you had sex with someone who could answer “yes” to any of the above questions or someone whose sexual history you don’t know?

Sexually active gay and bisexual men may benefit from more frequent testing .

If you’re pregnant, talk to your health care provider about getting tested for HIV and other ways to protect you and your child from getting HIV.

I Am Pregnant What Tests For Should Be Done For Infection

You should be tested for hepatitis B, syphilis, group B streptococcus, Chlamydia trachomatis, gonorrhea and human immunodeficiency virus in every pregnancy. All these infections can hurt your baby if he or she gets the infection. If you are tested and find out you have any of these infections, treatment can usually prevent your baby from becoming infected and sick from these infections.

You should also be tested for rubella if you do not know if you are immune. Knowing if you are not immune can help you avoid getting rubella while pregnant. If you are not immune, you can get the rubella vaccine after your baby is born so that you will not get rubella in the future. In some provinces, pregnant women are tested for chickenpox for the same reason.

Depending on your medical history, tests may also be done for other infections such as cytomegalovirus or parvovirus.

Is Hiv Testing Necessary For Pregnant Women

HIV testing is critically important for pregnant women. HIV testing is recommended at the beginning of each pregnancy during prenatal care. If any HIV risk factors are present or there is a high incidence of HIV in the population, testing should be repeated in the third trimester. There have been enormous advances in the treatment of HIV-infected pregnant women. With proper management, the probability of transmitting the virus to the fetus is less than 2%. Without proper management, the risk of transmission is as high as 33%. Because undiagnosed HIV is so common, it is necessary to test all pregnant women. It is strongly recommended that all children born to women with HIV also be tested.

Also Check: Are Hiv And Aids The Same

What Do The Test Results Mean

If a person tests positive for HIV on the ELISA test, they might have HIV. However, there can be false positives with the ELISA test. This means that test results indicate that the person has HIV when they actually do not. For example, having certain conditions such as Lyme disease, syphilis, or lupus may produce a false positive for HIV in an ELISA test.

For this reason, after a positive ELISA test, more sophisticated tests are done to confirm whether the person has HIV. These tests include the differentiation assay and a test called the nucleic acid test . If the person tests positive for HIV with either one of these tests, they probably have HIV.

Sometimes, HIV doesnt show up on the ELISA test even though a person has an HIV infection. This can happen if someone is in the early stages of the infection, and their body hasnt produced enough antibodies for the tests to detect. This early stage of HIV infection, in which a person has HIV but tests negative for it, is known as the window period.

According to the

Screening For Hiv In Pregnancy

If you’re pregnant, you’ll be offered a blood test to check if you have HIV as part of routine antenatal screening.

If untreated, HIV can be passed to your baby during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding. Treatment in pregnancy greatly reduces the risk of passing HIV on;to the baby.

Page last reviewed: 22 April 2021 Next review due: 22 April 2024

Recommended Reading: Can You Catch Hiv From Oral

Window Periods Of Rapid Tests

The window period refers to the time after infection and before seroconversion, during which markers of infection are still absent or too scarce to be detectable. Tests cannot reliably detect HIV infection until after the window period has passed. All tests have a window period, which varies from test to test.

Delaney and colleagues estimated window periods for a handful of rapid tests in a 2017 study. However, all these estimates were based on testing blood plasma. In practice, tests are usually done on fingerprick blood and the window period is likely to be several days longer.

The fourth-generation Determine HIV-1/2 Ag/Ab Combo was estimated to have a median window period of 19 days . This indicates that half of all infections would be detected between 15 and 25 days after exposure. Ninety-nine per cent of HIV-infected individuals would be detectable within 43 days of exposure.

The third-generation INSTI HIV-1/HIV-2 test was estimated to have a median window period of 26 days . This indicates that half of all infections would be detected between 22 and 31 days after exposure. Ninety-nine per cent of HIV-infected individuals would be detectable within 50 days of exposure.

Basic information on testing

Planning For Hiv Testing

Providing extended counselling, while preferred, may act as a barrier to testing for both the care provider and the testing client. The considerable resources and time required to conduct extensive risk assessments and pre- and post-test counselling have limited the ability of care providers to offer HIV testing. Behaviour-based risk assessments may also deter individuals from accessing testing, as such practices may involve revealing sensitive personal information. Both providers and clients may feel uncomfortable discussing such topics and, consequently, may avoid testing. The result is “missed opportunities” to diagnose those unaware of their HIV infection and link them with the treatment, care and support they need.

Providing sufficient information and supportive resources in conjunction with HIV testing does not necessarily require expertise in counselling or therapy. The level of support required in any given testing situation is highly dependent on the type of test and the testing client. While some clients may require comprehensive counselling, others may only need an abbreviated discussion supplemented with information resources such as brochures or websites.

Recommended Reading: How Does Hiv Affect The Immune System

Preventing The Spread Of Hiv

People who suspect they have been exposed to HIV should still exercise caution to avoid HIV transmission during the window period.

They can do so in several ways:

• Use a condom during sex
• Reduce your number of sexual partners
• Consider using pre-exposure prophylaxis , a daily medication that reduces your partners chances of getting HIV
• Get tested for other STDs and ask your partners to do the same
• Dont share drug needles with others

What Happens After A Positive Hiv Test

After a client receives a positive HIV test result, the result is reported to public health. A positive result initiates a series of processes to support the care of the client, to identify recent partners who may benefit from testing, and to prevent onward transmission.

Public Health notification

HIV is a reportable, or notifiable, illness in all Canadian provinces and territories except for Quebec .

Being reportable or notifiable means that when an HIV infection is confirmed by a clinic, doctor or laboratory, it is reported to public health authorities . Each province and territory has public health laws that stipulate specific requirements for reporting HIV diagnoses. HIV is a reportable disease because it is considered to be of significant importance to public health.

The amount of information collected and shared with public health varies according to each province or territory. However, all provinces and territories provide non-nominal data on positive tests to the Public Health Agency of Canada, which facilitates the production of national-level reports on the state of the HIV epidemic in Canada.

Partner notification

HIV partner notification, or contact tracing, is the practice of identifying, locating and informing someone that a partner they have had sex or used drugs with has been diagnosed with HIV. Contact tracing is meant to encourage the partners to test for HIV to identify new HIV infections as early as possible.

Don’t Miss: Which Body Fluids Transmit Hiv

How Do The Tests Work

Most HIV tests use a blood sample, either from a blood draw or finger prick. Others use saliva , but this is a little less accurate than blood tests.;

Some HIV tests look for the virus itself. But most look for the antibodies for HIV. Antibodies are part of the immune system and fight infections. When someone is infected with HIV, the body creates antibodies to fight HIV.

Testing results may be available that day or can take longer come back.;

What Information Is Collected When Someone Gets An Hiv Test From A Healthcare Provider Or Community Worker

Non-identifying information collected when a person has an HIV test may include age, sex, city of residence, name of the diagnosing healthcare provider, country of birth, ethnicity, and information detailing the HIV-related risk factors of the person being tested.

Whether the name of the person being tested is collected is determined by the testing option:;nominal , non-nominal , or;anonymous testing. Nominal and non-nominal testing are widely available in Canada. Anonymous HIV testing is available in some, but not all, provinces.

Nominal testing

Nominal testing, or name-based testing, is available across Canada and often takes place within clinics, offices of healthcare providers and hospitals. When a person has a nominal HIV test, the HIV test is ordered using the persons name. If the test is positive, the result is reported to public health authorities using the persons name and the test result is also recorded in the healthcare record of the person being tested.

Non-nominal testing

Non-nominal, or non-identifying testing, is also available across Canada and often takes place within clinics and offices of healthcare providers. If a person has a non-nominal HIV test, the HIV test is ordered using a code or the persons initials or an alias , not their full or partial name. If the test is positive, the result is reported to public health using the persons name in most provinces. The test result is also recorded in the healthcare record of the person being tested.

Don’t Miss: When Was The First Case Of Hiv

The Healthcare Worker There To Help You

Before you test, your healthcare worker will talk to you about your sexual health and why youve decided to test. This is to help them understand your situation so they can offer you the best services and advice.

Remember, the healthcare professional is not there to judge you. There will be nothing you can say that they havent heard before so be honest with them, and ask as many questions as you want. Thats what theyre there for.

You should never feel pressured to test. The results will be completely confidential but you should only go through with it if you want to.

Types Of Hiv Tests And Their Window Periods

• Nucleic Acid Test A NAT can usually tell you if you have HIV infection 10 to 33 days after exposure
• Antigen/Antibody TestAn antigen/antibody test performed by a laboratory on blood from a vein can usually detect HIV infection 18 to 45 days after exposure. Antigen/antibody tests done with blood from a finger prick take longer to detect HIV .
• Antibody TestAn antibody test can take 23 to 90 days to detect HIV infection after an exposure. Most rapid tests and self-tests are antibody tests. In general, antibody tests that use blood from a vein detect HIV sooner after infection than tests done with blood from a finger prick or with oral fluid.

Ask your health care provider or test counselor about the window period for the test youre taking and whether you will need a follow-up test to confirm the results. If youre using a self-test, you can get that information from the materials included in the tests package.

If you get an HIV test after a potential HIV exposure and the result is negative, get tested again after the window period. Remember, you can only be sure you are HIV-negative if:.

• Your most recent test is after the window period
• You havent had a potential HIV exposure during the window period. If you do have an exposure, then you will need to be retested.

Read Also: What Are The Side Effects Of Hiv Aids

Are Home Hiv Tests Accurate

Home tests are an accurate way to test for HIV. However, they may take longer to detect the virus after exposure than tests performed at a doctors office.

HIV antibody levels in saliva are lower than HIV antibody levels in the blood.

The at-home test is an antibody-only test. It does not test for HIV antigen, which is typically included in a fourth-generation HIV test done at a hospital or doctors office. Tests for HIV antibody and antigen can detect infection sooner.

Simply stated, the OraQuick In-Home HIV Test may not detect HIV as quickly as a blood test would.

Where Can People Find Free Hiv Testing Locations

The CDC maintains a list of HIV testing locations for people who want to find out whether they have contracted the virus. This National HIV and STD Testing Resource can be accessed at . This site includes the ability to search for free testing locations as well as locations that provide rapid tests. Some clinics only provide HIV testing. However, sexually transmitted diseases clinics routinely provide HIV testing along with testing for diseases like chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and herpes.

You May Like: What Is Hiv 1 Antibody

What Does The Test Result Mean

A negative test for HIV antigen and/or HIV antibody usually indicates that a person does not have an HIV infection. A negative screening test means only that there is no evidence of disease at the time of the test, however. It is important for those who are at increased risk of HIV infection to have screening tests performed on a yearly basis to check for possible exposure to the virus.

HIV tests that detect only HIV antibody will not detect an HIV infection soon after exposure, during the window period before the development of antibodies. Most people produce detectable levels of antibody 3 to 12 weeks after exposure. If someone is screened with an HIV antibody test too soon, the result may be negative despite the fact that the person is infected . If an HIV antibody test is negative but suspicion of exposure remains high, then repeat testing using the HIV antigen/antibody blood test may be required.

If someone tests positive on both the initial screen and supplemental testing, then that person is considered to be infected with HIV.

The CDC recommends use of a new testing protocol to screen for and diagnose HIV infection. The following lists the steps and meaning of test results:

Two tests once commonly used to test for HIV, HIV-1 Western blot and HIV-1 immunofluorescence assay, are not included in this new protocol and should not be used since these tests detect antibody later in the infection and may give a false-negative result.

What Is An Hiv Test

An HIV test shows whether you are infected with HIV . HIV is a virus that attacks and destroys cells in the immune system. These cells protect your body against disease-causing germs, such as bacteria and viruses. If you lose too many immune cells, your body will have trouble fighting off infections and other diseases.

There are three main types of HIV tests:

• Antibody Test. This test looks for HIV antibodies in your blood or saliva. Your immune system makes antibodies when you are exposed to bacteria or viruses, like HIV. An HIV antibody test can determine if you have HIV from 312 weeks after infection. That’s because it can take a few weeks or longer for your immune system to make antibodies to HIV. You may be able to do an HIV antibody test in the privacy of your home. Ask your health care provider about at-home HIV test kits.
• HIV Antibody/Antigen Test. This test looks for HIV antibodies and antigens in the blood. An antigen is a part of a virus that triggers an immune response. If you’ve been exposed to HIV, antigens will show up in your blood before HIV antibodies are made. This test can usually find HIV within 26 weeks of infection. The HIV antibody/antigen test is one of the most common types of HIV tests.
• HIV Viral Load. This test measures the amount of the HIV virus in the blood. It can find HIV faster than antibody and antibody/antigen tests, but it is very expensive. It is mostly used for monitoring HIV infections.

Read Also: How Much To Get Hiv Test

Situations In Which Rapid Tests May Not Be Accurate

Performance of rapid tests is poorer in a number of situations. Results may not be accurate.

• In cases of recent HIV infection, during the tests window period.
• In people with diagnosed HIV who are taking HIV treatment. These tests are not a reliable way to confirm that you still have HIV infection.
• In people who are taking pre-exposure prophylaxis or post-exposure prophylaxis . If you acquire HIV, you may have a delayed antibody response, extending the window period.