HIV Tests
Curious about how to determine if someone has contracted HIV? Just like any other medical diagnostic process, tests are necessary to confirm whether you are HIV positive or negative. HIV symptoms might not show up immediately after contraction, making it difficult to assess if someone is infected. Therefore, HIV testing is highly recommended, especially for high-risk individuals who are sexually active and have multiple partners. It’s the most reliable method to address your concerns about the possibility of an HIV infection.
Global statistics indicate that around 38.4 million people worldwide were living with HIV in 2020. Additionally, there were 1.5 million new infections recorded in 2021. How are these numbers obtained? These figures are backed by extensive HIV screenings conducted daily across the globe.
Notably, around 85% of people with HIV are aware of their status, leaving 15% unaware. Without HIV testing, it’s impossible to determine the appropriate treatment. Thus, HIV testing is a crucial first step towards HIV prevention, care, and support.
Today, HIV testing is more accessible than ever due to advancements in medical technology, offering multiple testing options. Here’s an explanation of the various popular HIV testing methods available now.
Home HIV Test
Surprisingly, you can now test for HIV at home with an HIV self-test or rapid self-test kit. This is an antibody screening tool that can be utilized outside clinical or hospital settings. A home HIV test can provide results in as little as 20 minutes. In the United States, HIV self-tests are available at pharmacies or online. Currently, the US is the only country offering an oral fluid test for home HIV screenings.
How do I get started with the home HIV test?
To perform an HIV self-test at home, you need to collect an oral fluid sample by swabbing. Once your sample is ready, the testing process will take about 20 minutes. Make sure to follow the instructions carefully for accurate results.
HIV RNA Test
Another method is the HIV RNA test. A physician might recommend this test if prompt testing is needed after close contact with the virus.
What does an HIV RNA test offer? Unlike other HIV tests that detect antibodies your body produces, the HIV RNA test identifies the virus’s genetic material. This test provides faster results and has a shorter window period. The procedure involves three steps:
Step 1: A medical technician will clean your arm with an antiseptic solution.
Step 2: A blood sample will be drawn from a vein in your arm.
Step 3: The sample will be sent to a lab for testing.
However, the HIV RNA test can be more expensive, which might be why it’s not frequently recommended by doctors.
CVS HIV Test
CVS HIV screening is available to residents of the United States. These testing kits can be found at CVS pharmacies nationwide.
CVS offers the OraQuick instant HIV test, which detects antibodies produced in response to the virus. Like the home HIV test, you collect your own sample. You can complete the entire process at home without shipping your sample to a lab.
In a few minutes, a colored line will appear on the test tube indicating the test’s status. One line indicates a negative HIV result, while a second brightly colored line below the first signifies a positive result.
There are 1,100 CVS in-store healthcare clinics, known as MinuteClinics, across the country.
HIV Drugs
You have two main options for HIV treatment: HIV pills or injections. HIV pills are typically recommended for those beginning treatment. There are various FDA-approved single-pill and combination HIV medications available. For those with an undetectable viral load or who have been virally suppressed for at least three months, HIV shots could be an alternative as prescribed by a qualified doctor. These long-acting injections are administered monthly or bi-monthly, depending on your treatment plan.
Some of the HIV medications available in the United States include:
- abacavir, or ABC (Ziagen)
- abacavir/lamivudine, or ABC/3TC (Epzicom)
- abacavir/lamivudine/zidovudine, or ABC/3TC/ZDV (Trizivir)
- atazanavir, or ATV (Reyataz)
- atazanavir/cobicistat, or ATV/c (Evotaz)
- bictegravir, or BIC/FTC/TAF (Biktarvy)
- cabategravir (Vocabria)
- cabotegravir extended-release injectable suspension (Apretude)
- cabotegravir/rilpivirine (Cabenuva)
- darunavir, or DRV (Prezista)
- darunavir/cobicistat, or DRV/c (Prezcobix)
- darunavir/cobicistat/tenofovir alafenamide/emtricitabine, or DRV/c/TAF/FTC (Symtuza)
- delavirdine, or DLV (Rescriptor)
- didanosine, or ddI (Videx)
- dolutegravir, or DTG (Tivicay)
- dolutegravir/abacavir/lamivudine, or DTG/ABC/3TC (Triumeq)
- dolutegravir/lamivudine, or DTG/3TC (Dovato)
- dolutegravir/rilpivirine, or DTG/RPV (Juluca)
- doravirine, or DOR (Pifeltro)
- doravirine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/lamivudine, or DOR/TDF/3TC (Delstrigo)
- efavirenz, or EFV (Sustiva)
- efavirenz/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine, or EFV/TDF/FTC (Atripla)
- elvitegravir, or EVG (Vitekta)
- elvitegravir/cobicistat/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine, or EVG/c/TDF/FTC (Stribild)
- elvitegravir/tenofovir alafenamide/emtricitabine, or EVG/c/TAF/FTC (Genvoya)
- emtricitabine/tenofovir alafen (Truvada)
- enfuvirtide, or ENF or T-20 (Fuzeon)
- emtricitabine, or FTC (Emtriva)
- etravirine, or ETR (Intelence)
- fosamprenavir, or FPV (Lexiva)
- fostemsavir (Rukobia)
- ibalizumab-uiyk, or IBA (Trogarzo)
- indinavir, or IDV (Crixivan)
- lamivudine, or 3TC (Epivir)
- lopinavir/ritonavir, or LPV/r (Kaletra)
- maraviroc, or MVC (Selzentry)
- nelfinavir, or NFV (Viracept)
- nevirapine, or NVP (Viramune)
- raltegravir, or RAL (Isentress)
- rilpivirine, or RPV (Edurant)
- rilpivirine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine, or RPV/TDF/FTC (Complera)
- rilpivirine/tenofovir alafenamide/emtricitabine, or RPV/TAF/FTC (Odefsey)
- ritonavir, or RTV (Norvir)
- saquinavir, or SQV (Fortovase, Invirase)
- stavudine, or d4T (Zerit)
- tenofovir alafenamide, or TAF (Vemlidy)
- tenofovir alafenamide/emtricitabine, or TAF/FTC (Descovy)
- tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, or TDF (Viread)
- tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine, or TDF/FTC (Truvada)
- tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/lamivudine, or TDF/3TC (Cimduo)
- tipranavir, or TPV (Aptivus)
- zidovudine, or ZDV (Retrovir)
- zidovudine/lamivudine, or ZDV/3TC (Combivir)