Some Practices Dont Reduce Your Risk Of Hiv
Some people use unreliable methods to reduce their risk of HIV. These include:
- Serosorting choosing your sexual partner based upon them having the same HIV status as you.
- Strategic positioning where an HIV-negative partner penetrates an HIV-positive partner.
- Withdrawal when the insertive partner pulls out before ejaculating .
None of these strategies are reliable, so you are at risk of HIV transmission.Having sex only with people who have the same HIV status can be very risky. For example, a person may think they are HIV-negative, but may have been exposed to HIV since their last test, or may never have been tested at all.
Using a combination of proven, reliable strategies like condoms, PrEP, and undetectable viral load is the best way to prevent HIV transmission.
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.
Why Should I Get Tested If I Am Pregnant
If you are pregnant, it is important to determine if you have HIV so you can be treated. Treatment of HIV-infected mothers during pregnancy, precautions at birth, and avoiding breast-feeding can minimize the risk of passing the infection from mother to child. If you are already taking HIV medications when you become pregnant, you should continue to do so during pregnancy and labor and delivery. If you are not taking HIV medications or have a high viral load during pregnancy, giving the antiretroviral drug zidovudine intravenously during labor and delivery and also to the newborn twice a day by mouth for 6 weeks reduces the rate of transmission from 25-33% to about 1-2%.
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Making An Informed Choice
In terms of testing selection and performance, the following conclusions can be reasonably drawn:
- Commercial, over-the-counter HIV tests perform least well overall, not only in terms of detecting acute infection but in returning a false negative rate of 7 percent.
- Combination HIV antigen/antibody tests are far more accurate than traditional antibody-based assays, particularly during the acute stage of infection. Lab-based tests still outperform at-site, point-of-care HIV tests, most especially in cases of recent HIV exposure.
With that being said, high levels of sensitivity are only part of the reason why certain tests are preferred over others.
For example, a significant number of people fail to return for their results after testing. The ability to return a result within 20- to 30 minutes makes rapid testing the ideal choice for most people .
Similarly, people with confidentiality concerns or fears about HIV stigma may be better served by taking an in-home rapid test. While there remains little data as to the number of people linked to care following a positive result, it is presumed that the tests will at least provide an entry point for those who might otherwise avoid testing clinics.
Why Do I Need An Hiv Viral Load
Your health care provider may order an HIV viral load when you are first diagnosed with HIV. This initial measurement helps your provider measure how your condition changes over time. You will probably be tested again every three to four months to see if your viral levels have changed since your first test. If you are being treated for HIV, your health care provider may order regular viral load tests to see how well your medicines are working.
You may also need an HIV viral load if you think you may have been recently infected. HIV is mainly spread through sexual contact and blood. You may be at higher risk of infection if you:
- Are a man that has had sex with another man
- Have had sex with an HIV-infected partner
- Have had multiple sex partners
- Have injected drugs, such as heroin, or shared drug needles with someone else
An HIV viral load can find HIV in your blood within days after you’ve been infected. Other tests can take several weeks or months to show an infection. During that time, you could infect someone else without knowing it. An HIV viral load gives you results sooner, so you can avoid spreading the disease.
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What Std Can Be Detected By Blood Test Or Urine Test
There are also some STDs that can be detected either way. They can be found by a swab or urine test, or by a blood test. These include:
- Syphilis
- Herpes
For syphilis, if there is a sore or ulcer on the genitals or in the anus or throat, then a swab of this lesion can be performed to look for syphilis. However, with this disease, the sore will heal on its own after a few weeks, but the bacteria still remain in the body and can cause serious long-term damage. If the sore has already healed, then a blood test is the only way to detect syphilis.
The blood test for herpes will only show whether you have been exposed to the virus. It will not show whether you currently have an outbreak, or where the virus is located in your body. In most cases, the virus that causes herpes will enter into nerve cells and remain there for life. It can reactivate from time to time and cause outbreaks. Because of this, if youve been exposed to the virus, then its likely dormant somewhere in your body, but the blood test for herpes doesnt show where it is , or whether its causing a current outbreak. If you currently have blisters or sores that might be a result of a herpes outbreak, then a swab of fluid from the area can be used to look for the herpes virus.
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
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What Stds Can Be Detected By Blood Test
28 Jan 2022
- Written by Dr. Patricia Shelton on 29 January 2022
If youre concerned about possible exposure to an STD, then your next step is to seek an STD test. There are a few different ways to test for STDs. The most common method is to use a urine sample, but many people wonder whether blood tests can also be used.
Will a blood test show STDs? Can all STDs be detected by a blood test? We would like to answer the most frequently asked questions about blood tests for STDs.
Timing Of Virological Testing
Infants and children can be infected with HIV during pregnancy, during delivery and post partum through breastfeeding, or through sexual or parenteral exposure. Infants infected in utero usually have detectable HIV at birth and progress to disease more rapidly. Infants infected at or around delivery may take a short time to have detectable virus. Therefore, the sensitivity of NAT depends on time of acquiring infection and the timing of the test , and the sensitivity of all methods of virological testing are therefore lower at birth. In infants with in utero HIV infection, HIV DNA and RNA can be detected in venous blood specimens obtained within 48 hours of birth. However, in infants with peripartum acquisition of HIV, HIV DNA and RNA are not detected in early venous blood specimens but become detectable at or after 1 to 2 weeks of age . By six weeks of age, almost all infants infected prior to, at, or around birth can be identified by NAT or Us p24 Ag testing.
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How Accurate Is An Hiv Test What Is The Window Period For An Hiv Test
The current testing protocols are highly accurate but not perfect. The probability of a false result on the test depends on the test and on the person’s risk factors for getting infected. The lower the risk of getting HIV, the higher the probability of a false- positive result.
Falsely negative tests occur in people who are truly infected with HIV but have negative tests. Among 1,000 people who are truly infected, rapid tests will be falsely negative in zero to six people, depending on the test. Negative antibody tests in people infected with HIV may occur because antibody concentrations are low or because antibodies have not yet developed. On average, antibodies take about four weeks to reach detectable levels after initial infection, and falsely negative tests may occur during this so-called HIV window period. Individuals with negative tests and who had high risk for HIV exposure should be retested in two to three months.
What Happens If I Test Positive For Hiv
If your initial test is positive for HIV antibodies, then additional testing is required to confirm that the first one was accurate. Sometimes this involves a second blood test.
When you are first diagnosed you will probably experience strong emotions. During this time, do not try to cope on your own. Seek support by speaking with your doctor, or contact your local community organisation. They have trained peer workers available to help you through the initial stages of a positive diagnosis, but also through your journey of living well with HIV.
Part of testing best practice includes pre- and post-test counselling. Post-test counselling is important, regardless of the outcome. If you test positive, counselling can provide emotional support, further information about living with HIV, and referrals to support services.
If the test is negative, counselling can provide education about HIV and how to reduce your HIV risk in the future. are community organisations that provide support and advocacy for people with HIV. Peer workers are also available to help you navigate living with HIV.
If you have recently been diagnosed with HIV, visit Next Steps for more information.
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If My Test Is Negative Do I Need Get Tested Again
Talk to your doctor or the counselor or social worker at the testing site to see if you need to get tested again.
Some reasons to get tested again include if you:
- have sex without a condom
- are a guy who has sex with other guys
- have had sex with more than three partners in the past year
- get an STD
- are a woman and are pregnant
Timing Of Serological Testing In Infants
The most recent advances in EIA technology have produced combination assays, which allow for the simultaneous detection of p24 HIV antigen and HIV antibodies. This approach has further shortened the window period, i.e. the interval between HIV infection and detectable HIV antigen/antibodies. Rapid tests appear to offer similar performance characteristics but they detect antibody 28 days later than third-generation EIAs.
All children born to HIV-infected mothers carry detectable maternal HIV antibody and this declines slowly over the first year of life. The rate of decay of maternal antibody has been ascertained largely by analysis of studies to detect HIV antibody in children who have not been breastfed. The mean and/or median age at the time of seroreversion ranges between 9 and 16 months of age in studies from both developed and developing countries . These data indicate that maternal antibody may remain detectable through the first 6 months of life but significant decay occurs by 912 months of age. Most HIV-uninfected children do not have detectable antibody at 12 months of age .
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Who Should Get An Hiv Test
The CDC recommends that everyone in the United States between the ages of 13 and 64 get tested for HIV at least once.
You should be tested more often — at least once a year — if youâre at higher risk of getting HIV, including if you:
- Have had several sexual partners
- Had unprotected sex with someone who is or could be HIV-positive, including someone whose sexual history you don’t know
- Injected drugs with a needle, syringe, or other device that someone else used first
- Have had or are getting tested for tuberculosis, hepatitis, or any sexually transmitted disease, including syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, or herpes
- Have had sex for drugs or money
- Had sex with someone who has a history of any of these
How Soon After Exposure To Hiv Can An Hiv Test Detect If You Are Infected
No HIV test can detect HIV immediately after infection. If you think youve been exposed to HIV, in the last 72 hours, talk to your health care provider about post-exposure prophylaxis , right away.
The time between when a person gets HIV and when a test can accurately detect it is called the window period. The window period varies from person to person and also depends upon the type of HIV test.
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Normal May Differ Between Men And Women
If you compare your blood test results with those of someone of the opposite sex, you may be surprised to find differences. For example, the normal reference range for the number of red blood cells in a complete blood count is between 5 million and 6 million cells per microliter for a man, but for women, its between 4 million and 5 million, according to the NHLBI.
What The Findings Tell Us
From the point of view of specificity, the figures confirmed that the incidence of false positives remains extremely low, even with the earlier generation tests.
The figure only worsened when retesting bloods from the acute stage infections. Of the 58 samples tested, the 3rd generation rapid tests achieved a sensitivity of only 5.2 percent to 25.9 percent, meaning that the majority of such infections would be missed using these rapid, antibody-based tests.
Even the 4th generationDetermine rapid antigen/antibody test was able to identify only half of the acute infections despite having an estimated sensitivity of 96.6 percent and specificity of 100 percent. According to the UCSF researchers, the Determine worked best during acute infection when the patient’s viral load was over 500,000.
Not surprisingly, the lab-based ARCHITECT combination antigen/antibody test performed best. With an estimated specificity of 99.1 percent and a specificity of 100 percent, the tests were able to identify nearly 90 percent of acute infections.
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What Happens During An Hiv Test
You will either get a blood test in a lab, or do your own test at home.
For a blood test in a lab:
- A health care professional will take a blood sample from a vein in your arm, using a small needle. After the needle is inserted, a small amount of blood will be collected into a test tube or vial. You may feel a little sting when the needle goes in or out. This usually takes less than five minutes.
For at home test, you will need to get a sample of saliva from your mouth or a drop of blood from your fingertip.
- The test kit will provide instructions on how to get your sample, package it, and send it to a lab.
- For a saliva test, you will use special spatula-like tool to take a swab from your mouth.
- For a fingertip antibody blood test, you will use a special tool to prick your finger and collect a sample of blood.
For more information on at-home testing, talk to your health care provider.
How Often Do You Need To Get Tested For Hiv
How often you should get tested depends on your personal practices, risk behaviours, and how often you engage in them.
For most people, it is important to have a full sexual health test at least once each year. This testing includes:
- HIV
Even if you always use condoms, it is recommended you get tested annually as condoms dont provide 100% protection against HIV and STIs.
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What Is A Window Period
All HIV tests have a window period. This is the period of time between when a person has been exposed to the virus and when a test can detect its presence in their body. If a person with HIV is tested before the window period has passed, it can produce false-negative results.
HIV tests are more accurate if theyre taken after the window period has passed. Some types of tests have shorter window periods than others. They can detect HIV sooner after exposure to the virus.
What If I Am Pregnant Is My Baby Going To Get Hiv Too
If a pregnant woman has HIV, she can take medication during pregnancy to prevent her baby from becoming infected. After birth, the baby will be given medicine for the first six weeks of life to make sure he or she is not infected. HIV-exposed babies should receive medical care from a HIV doctor until it is certain that the baby is not infected. HIV-infected women should not breastfeed in order to prevent transmitting the infection to infants.
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