• Why HIV Testing Is Important
• The Need For HIV Testing
• Information Of HIV Testing
• All You Need To Know About HIV Testing
• What Is HIV Antibody Testing?
• Implications Of Rapid And Antigen HIV Testing
• How Do Fourth Generation And PCR HIV Testing Methods Help?
• HIV Sampling And Testing At Home!

All You Need To Know About HIV Testing

HIV testing is a process that involves having your blood, urine, or saliva tested to know if you are infected with the Human immunodeficiency virus, the virus that is responsible for causing AIDS. An HIV test is recommended if a person has a sexual relationship with multiple partners of the same or opposite sex, shares the needle while taking drugs, is anxious about having had unprotected sex, or if the individual has doubts over his partners sexual behavior. Before a person gets an HIV test done, he/she must go through a private briefing session with a doctor or counselor. A doctor or counselor may also give you material to read. Questions on why you want to get the HIV testing done will be asked. Counselors or doctors may ask you questions on your sexual behavioral patterns, your background and sexual history to understand your concerns of getting A HIV test done. It is important for an individual to be honest and open while answering questions and not hide anything from their counselor or doctor.

During a session with your doctor it is important that you ask questions on doubts that concern you. After the counseling procedure is over and the doctor feels a HIV testing is required, the doctor must explain the different tests involved, ways to prevent HIV, the confidentiality involved in testing, discuss the impact the results will have on the individual, and discuss the issues of confiding with family members. The individual should give consent, informing the doctor that he/she has understood the HIV-antibody procedure for detecting the presence of the virus. Here's a list of places you can seek information and counseling about HIV testing

- Government/ NGO funded HIV testing center

- Healthcare provider

- STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) clinics

- Aids awareness organizations

- Rehabilitation centers

- Community health clinics

- Doctor's clinic

- Family planning clinics

Types of HIV tests

- ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay)

- EIA (Enzyme immunoassay)

- Western bolt

- Rapid HIV test

- PCR Test (Polymerase Chain Reaction test)

- Home Sampling test kits

- Antigen test (P24 test)

The Rapid HIV test takes less time than the other tests. A test that is performed may need to be done two or three times to ensure that the fact findings in the test are accurate. The ELISA, EIA and Western bolt are standardized tests that are done to detect the presence of antibody to HIV.

After an ELISA test, a follow up Western bolt test may be done to ensure that the results are accurate and you can start thinking about the possible treatment options. The procedure of PCR tests is complex and expensive, compared to the other tests, but it provides accurate testing results. PCR test methods are used on babies born to mothers with HIV. Antigen tests are used rarely as they do not provide accurate testing results. Although it is illegal to sell HIV kits in some countries, they can be bought from sellers on the internet, but there is a divided opinion in the medical fraternity on the use of these kits. Although tests with urine samples are available, they do not provide the accurate results that blood or oral fluids provide.