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Absolute HIV Testing
AIDS INFORMATION and TESTING (Web Page Revised: February 7, 2009)
A Division of TeleMed, Inc. Copyright 1999-2009.
Do you need HIV Testing? We can help if you live in thew San Francisco Bay Area.
Do you Need information about the transmission of HIV?
Do you need a HIV sexual risk assessment?
Did you have a recent unprotected sexual encounter which you consider to be high risk? Do you want to protect yourself from this risky sexual encounter? SEE ******** SECTION BELOW!
CALL AIDS INFORMATION and TESTING at (636) 285-9592 or (650) 678-8715 for testing sites in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prices are subject to the Stanford Lab Systemv. Payment plans include: VISA or MasterCard only. If you would like FREE information on "Understanding and Preventing HIV and AIDS," send a self-addressed and self-stamped legal-sized envelope to AIDS INFORMATION and TESTING at P.O. Box 2291, Menlo Park, California 94026-2291.
Would you like to use a HIV testing system that was designed by a physician who has treated and tested several thousand HIV positive patients over the past 10 years? Keep in mind that a lot of anonymous HIV phone testing services use "technicians" who limit their information by reading to you off a computer screen. We are able to give you answers to even the most technical questions about rare situations seen in all sexually transmitted diseases. HIV testing can be a very tricky process, requiring an experienced medical expert to keep you out of some important pitfalls!
We can save you time by making anonymous HIV testing easy. Pre-test and post-test counseling is done by phone, and you never have to make any embarassing face to face contact. You pick a time to have your HIV test drawn that fits your schedule, and we find a location which is near your home, office or factory. HIV results can be obtained by phone, snail mail, e-mail or FAX. Test turn around is usually 24 hours.
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ATTENTION: HIV infection can be stopped if a patient with risky, unprotected sexual behavior is treated with anti-viral therapy before HIV can fully invade the body! Research in prevention through early treatment is currently going on. Do you need this new type of treatment system? CALL US at (636) 285-9592, but you need to do it within 2 days after unprotected sexual exposure!
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2003 REVISION:
1. STATISTICS
Currently, there is an estimated 39.4 million men, women and children infrected with HIV worldwide. The majority of these HIV infected people have not been tested and do not know that they are infected! Half of these people are less than 25 years of age.
In the U.S. there are an estimated 600,000 to 900,000 people who are HIV infected. Half of these HIV positive people have not been tested and do not know their HIV status. These people are "healthy" appearing and they are spreading the disease sexually every day!
40% of people who test for HIV never pick up their results!
1/3 of individuals learn they are HIV positive, on average, 2 months prior to the frank diagnosis of AIDS! In other words, they have delayed their potential treatment to a dangerous period in HIV progression.
2. THERE IS NO CONCLUSIVE HIV TESTING!
BEWARE of any anonymous HIV testing service who states they can provide "conclusive results." From a statistical standpoint, there is currently no perfect HIV test in existence. All HIV tests have a percentage of results which are not always accurate. These inaccuracies are called "FALSE POSITIVE" and "FALSE NEGATIVE" results.
For sales reasons, some HIV testing services want the client to "feel good" about HIV risk. These HIV services will recommend more expensive HIV tests which they mark up as much as 100% above their costs. Expensive tests may not always be the best way to go, and this mark up is also illegal, violating federal laws. These anonymous HIV testing services must deal with "False Positive" and "False Negative" results just like any other service. (Some services use misleading advertising with the suggestion that they can give you 24 hour turn around on a PCR test. This test routinely takes 3-5 days to complete.)
Would you want to be HIV positive when in truth you are not? That would wreck your day for sure? This is called a false positive test. Would you want a HIV test to give you a "clean bill of health" when in truth you are infected with the AIDS virus and passing it on to others? That would wreck someone else's day. That person you exposed to HIV might be out looking for you with murder in his or her eyes! This is called a false negative test.
Even with a combined HIV Antibody Test (ELIZA) and a Western Blot, the accuracy rate is 99%. Sounds pretty neat! But, in truth, 99% is not good enough! Here's why.
If we test a population of 100,000 people, 99,000 people will receive accurate results, but 1000 people will obtain ERRONEOUS results! Currently, in the U.S. there is an estimated incidence of 0.6% of the population who are infected with HIV or one in 167 persons. Considering this 0.6% rate of HIV infection, of the 1000 people who received erroneous results, 60 individuals are, in truth, HIV positive but tested HIV negative! They fall into the category of "False Negative."
A False Positive result can also shatter a life, because other people believe that the false positive individual is really HIV infected. If a person with a false positive test result thinks he is HIV infected, the false positive person may think that unprotected sex with other partners who are HIV infected really does not matter. This a huge mistake which eventually insures real HIV infection.
ALL people who are HIV Positive, both TRUE or FALSE Positive, MUST tell any partner of their "positive" test results before having sex. The new partner needs to be warned. That new partner may need to exercise options. If the new partner wants to take the chance, the use of condoms and "SAFE SEX" are absolutely MANDATORY in both True and False Positives!
(DISCLAIMER) Because HIV False Positive and Negative testing results are a reality in running our service, AIDS Information & Testing NEVER fully guarantees a result to be absolutely accurate. If someone requests that a partner acquire an HIV test prior to allowing that person to have sex with them, there is still a small possibility that their new sex partner is HIV infected EVEN WHEN THEY HAVE TESTED HIV NEGATIVE. (See Ref. Stine, AIDS Update 1998, Prentice Hall, Inc. Upper Saddle River, N.J. 07458, P. 355 for more information concerning the above statistical discussion.)
For this simple reason, AIDS Information & Testing recommends that "SAFE SEX" should be practiced by the new couple for at least one year. We also recommend that this new sexual couple should both re-test at least TWO more times during that first year. Even with the use of condoms and repeat HIV testing, there is still a chance that an occasional couple will transfer HIV!
For all the above reasons, DO NOT HAVE UNPROTECTED SEX, and the next day look for the "MAGIC BULLET-ONE DAY HIV TEST." There is no such animal!
USE AIDS INFORMATION and TESTING, and we will put some serious logic and accuracy into your sexual exposure problem. We will do your testing "the old fashioned way," and use current, state of the art HIV science.
3. The U.S. Public Health service now recommends annual VOLUNTARY HIV testing for all females in the U.S. who are pregnant or who are planning to conceive. This recommendation is also endorsed by the American Medical Association.
HIV TESTING AVAILABLE FROM AIDS INFORMATION and TESTING
AIDS Information and Testing offers the following HIV Tests:
(1) HIV Antibody Test or ELIZA
(2) Western Blot
(3) P-24 Antigen
(4) RNA PCR (or viral load)
Actually, AIDS Information and Testing can arrange to draw any medical lab you might need. We can order more exotic HIV testing, such as HIV viral cultures, CD-4 Counts and soon the Ultra Sensitive PCR in California. We also offer blood draws for other Sexually Transmitted Diseases or STDs, including Syphilis, Herpes I & II, Hepatitis A, B, & C,Chlamydia, and Gonorrhea. We have a panel we call "the WORKS" that screens for all of the STDs that can be diagnosed through a blood draw. If you want to check yourself or your partner out, "the WORKS" is the way to go! AIDS Information and Testing also does routine blood work such as blood sugars, serum lipid screens for cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and triglycerides, drugs of abuse, PSA, and cancer markers, to name only a few.
CALL US at (636) 285-9592 for any medical test!
EXPOSURE RATES for SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES
Chance that a woman will pickup an HIV infection from a HIV positive male through one vaginal intercourse event: One in two chance.
Chance that a man will pickup a HIV infection from a HIV positive female through one vaginal intercourse event: 12% chance.
Chance that one homosexual bout of anal receptive intercourse will lead to a HIV infection: One in 50 to one in 100 chance.
Chance that a single needle stick from a HIV positive patient will lead to a HIV infection in a healthcare professional: One in 200 chance.
Chance that a male with active gonorrhea will give it to a female sex partner with one episode of vaginal intercourse: One in 2 chance.
Chance that a female with active gonorrhea will give it to a male sex partner with one episode of vaginal intercourse: One in 4 chance.
Chance that a male who is infected with Hepatitis B will transfer hepatitis to a female sex partner with one episode of vaginal intercourse: One in 63 chance.
Chance that a female who is infected with Hepatitis B will transfer hepatitis to a male sex partner with one episode of vaginal intercourse: One in 90 chance.
Condom Failure Rate: 7 to 22% (depending on which study you read)
CONCLUSIONS:
1. Gonorrhea and Hepatitis are more likely to be spread in casual sex than HIV.
2. HIV is not as easy to transfer during sex than other sexually transmitted diseases.
3. Hepatitis is more likely to kill you in the short term than AIDS.
4. Even though the HIV virus is a weakly transmitted sexual disease, this does not mean that unprotected sex is worth the risk!
THE USE OF HIV TESTING
1. HIV ANTIBODY TEST (ELIZA)
This is the only test recommended by the FDA and CDC at 6 months for the screening and early diagnosis of HIV. This test will be positive as early as 2 months in HIV infected individuals who have participated in high risk sexual activities. The test will have an accuracy rate of 50% at 2 months, 90% at 3 months, 95% by 6 months and 99+% at 12 months post sexual exposure. There are rare, documented cases of HIV that took up to 3 years to become HIV antibody positive! For this reason, it is wise to take a series of HIV antibody tests to make sure that the HIV virus has not slipped through "the testing window," rendering a false negative test result! Unfortunately, there are also rare strains of HIV which do not produce an antibody response.
2. THE WESTERN BLOT
When a HIV Antibody Test (or ELIZA) is positive, all labs run a Western Blot as a confirmation test. If the ELIZA and Western Blot are both positive, HIV infection is one possible conclusion. A false positive ELIZA in combination with a false positive Western Blot do occur and may represent 50% of the total number of positive results. Thus, the good news is that a positive HIV result with a confirmation does not always mean HIV infection. The Western Blot is considered positive if 2 of the following HIV Antigens are noted on the test strip: p24, Gp41, Gp120, and/or Gp160.
AIDS Information and Testing feels that all individuals with HIV positive results, both false and true positives, should see an HIV provider prior to assuming the worst! The true HIV positive patient will need treatment, and the false positive patient will need counseling.
3. P-24 ANTIGEN TEST
During the first week of early HIV infection, the AIDS virus will reproduce rapidly. The P-24 antigen is part of the capsule which surrounds AIDS genetic material. As the virus multiples (or replicates), the P-24 Antigen elevates in the blood stream of the infected individual. This P-24 elevation occurs before there is a HIV antibody response. Thus the P-24 Antigen may be an excellent test in the first 60 days to pick up a new HIV infection.
60-80% of all freshly HIV infected patients will also have acute symptoms during the first 5-30 days. This period of symptoms is called "the Acute AIDS Syndrome." These symptoms include headache, fever, sore throat, white patches in the mouth, stiff neck, lymph node enlargement, skin rash, joint pain, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. If the P-24 Antigen Test is done when the Acute AIDS Syndrome is symptomatic or shortly after symptoms disappear, large amounts of P-24 Antigen are noted nearly 100% of the time, and in patients with the "Acute AIDS Syndrome," the HIV antibody can be detected for the first time 14 to 21 days post unprotected sexual exposure. It is assumed that individuals who develop the "Acute AIDS Syndrome" have a higher initial viral load and will test positive easier than those persons who do not show initial symptoms of early illness. In one study, 13 of 13 patients with the "Acute AIDS Syndrome" had at least one test positive for HIV at 18 days post exposure.
4. QUANTITATIVE RNA PCR ("Viral Load or Viral Burden")
This test is approved by the FDA for monitoring the response to antiviral therapy in patients with proven HIV infection. It is not recommended for the diagnosis or screening of early HIV exposure or infection, such as the "Acute AIDS Syndrome," noted above. Using this test for the early screening has two disadvantages. The sensitivity varies between 86% and 98%, making this test less sensitive than the ELIZA, and the false positive rate is 2-3%, particularly when the viral load is low or lab contamination spoil the test. It is thought that the RNA PCR should be positive in most infected individuals 2 to 4 weeks post HIV uptake.
Some experts will however use a RNA PCR as an initial screen largely because most patients underestimate their unprotected sexual activities to save face with a health care provider. Many patients are already HIV positive and do not know it! AIDS Information and Testing sometimes uses this test in dealing with very anxious patients who have entered into very risky sexual misadventures 28 days prior to the RNA PCR determination. However, because of the lowered sensitivities and increased false positive rate, the RNA PCR can actually create a diagnostic dilemma. When we use the PCR at 28 days, we also order a P-24 Antigen in an attempt to rule
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