KISISS Q&A

Most HIV tests are actually HIV antibody tests. They look for the antibodies that human bodies generate in response to the virus.

The test happens in two phases, usually. First, your blood is screened using an ELISA test, which looks for antibodies against HIV. If the ELISA comes out positive, then your blood is tested using the Western Blot test, which is more sensitive. It looks for a particular strip of proteins unique to HIV, rather than for antibodies.

These tests in combination generate a false positive in 1-5 of every 100,000 tests. A positive test does not mean you have AIDS. Click here to read about the difference between HIV and AIDS.

At the same time, a negative may not mean that you are not infected with HIV. The virus has an incubation period of 2 weeks to 6 months, during which time it is undetectable by these tests. For the most accurate result, the Center for Disease Control recommends that you be tested 6 months after the last time that you could possibly have been infected. (Importantly, HIV can be transmitted during this window time.)

For more information about HIV test result accuracy, see the Center for Disease Control's How Accurate Is the HIV Antibody Test?

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Indeterminate test results mean that the test results did not show clearly either positive or negative results. Since the test was inconclusive, another HIV antibody test needs to be taken within 1-2 months time.

Here are some reasons you might have gotten an indeterminate result, according to HIVInsite:


• Prior blood transfusions, even with non-HIV-1 infected blood
• Prior or current infection with syphilis.
• Prior or current infection with malaria parasites.
• Autoimmune disease (e.g. diabetes, Grave's disease, etc.).
• Infection with other human retroviruses (e.g., HIV-2, HTLV I/II).
• Association with "large animals." Animal trainers and veterinarians are sometimes exposed to viruses which do not cause human disease but may interfere with HIV antibody tests.
• Second or subsequent pregnancies in women.

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There are two ways you can be tested for HIV: confidentially and anonymously:

CONFIDENTIAL means that your test results are treated like any other medical test result. That is, they become a permanent part of your medical record at the facility where you are tested. These records are released to other agencies only with your explicit written permission. In addition, if your test is positive, the IU Health Center is required by state law to provide the Indiana State Department of Health with your name. The State Department keeps this information strictly confidential. With confidential testing, results are usually returned within a week.

ANONYMOUS means you are assigned an ID number, so no one knows your name. Your results are never reported to the Indiana State Department of Health. Results generally take two weeks.

It's possible to be tested at home. Using a test kit, you draw your own blood and send the sample to the testing company's lab, where they test it. After about 3 days, you call to get your anonymous test result. See this site for FDA-approved home test kits.


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HIV - Human Immunodefficiency Virus - is the virus that causes AIDS - Acquired Immunodefficiency Syndrome. It's a complicated and fragile virus that weakens the body's defenses against disease.

There are two kinds of HIV - HIV-I and HIV-II. Almost a million people are currently infected with HIV-I, and about 1,000 are known to be infected with HIV-II. You can find a thorough explanation of the differences here.

AIDS itself is HIV plus an "opportunistic infection," which is an infection that takes advantage of the weakened immune system.

This is a very cursory explanation of a complicated interaction of human biology with multiple infections. For a more detailed explanation, see the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease's HIV and AIDS Fact Sheet

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Links

For information about how HIV is spread and how you can protect yourself, see the IU Health Center's HIV - AIDS FAQ.

For information about treatment of HIV and aids, visit The HIV/AIDS Treatment Information Service.

For a clearinghouse of general HIV and AIDS information, go to New York Online Access to Health AIDS and HIV Information Page.

For more detailed information about current research on HIV and AIDS, visit AEGIS.

Also try the Journal of the American Medical Association's HIV/AIDS Information Center.

Mark Price gives straight dope on the AIDS cocktail.

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