Ways to Test for HIV

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Dr Savage, you're worrying about different ways to test for HIV. More commonly today, they actually have a rapid HIV testing system, possibly at your primary care office, but definitely at health departments that are geared for testing HIV. This rapid test can be done through either a oral swab, or a quick blood sample test. Of course, you can find out that day whether that test is positive. That has about a ninety nine percent sensitivity, so about one out of ever hundred is false positive. If that was positive, or if it was negative, then there is a concern you should, definitely, consider being retested again in the near future, that's something to discuss with your health care provider. But, if it is actually positive, then you go to the next step, which could be the first step where you get a IV sample sent off to a lab, takes at least a week. They do something referred to as an alizer, it's an enzyme hazza, scientific test to screen for positive. They take that sample, they do the test, if that is positive, then they do a second test, referred to as a western block, it's basically, a double system of being as accurate as possible screening for HIV. If you actually get two different samples that test positive for HIV, most likely, that test, the person who tested for that, actually does have HIV. At that point you can do further testing, including, but not necessarily limited to, an HIV viral load in the blood. I trust this has been informative, if there's any other questions speak to your primary care physician or the local health care provider. I'm Dr Savage and here's to your health."