About HIV Testing
There are different types of HIV testing available and each has its own advantages and limitations.
With the rapid test, your test is analyzed “on site” at the location where you go for your appointment, so you can get your results within a few minutes. There’s no need to draw blood using a needle. Instead, the test is performed with just a few drops of blood taken using a finger prick.
For rapid testing, SPOT uses the INSTITM HIV-1/HIV-2 Rapid Antibody test manufactured by a Canadian company called bioLyticalTM Laboratories. Approved by Health Canada, this test detects both HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies and is more than 99% accurate.
The advantage of rapid HIV testing is that you get your results immediately (during the same appointment). It’s important to note, however, that a rapid HIV test cannot detect a very recent infection. It normally takes a newly infected person 3 months to develop the antibodies that are detected by the test.
Just as for standard HIV testing, the “window period” for rapid testing is three months. This is the amount of time that it can take after a person has become infected before HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies become detectable in the blood.
A test result that comes back positive (“reactive”) using a rapid test is considered to be a preliminary result. In order to confirm this result, an additional blood sample will need to be taken (using a needle) and sent to a laboratory for analysis. SPOT staff members will offer support and assistance through this process.
The conventional test requires that a blood sample be taken using a needle. The blood sample is then sent to a hospital laboratory to be analyzed. Your test results are given to you during a follow-up visit two to three weeks later.
The conventional HIV test currently used in most laboratories in Quebec is a combination test that is able to detect HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies as well as p24 antigens. At somewhere between 16 and 40 days after a person has become infected with HIV, p24 antigens become present and detectable in the blood before antibodies are developed.
The conventional combination test that is currently in use may also able to detect HIV-1 a few days earlier than previous versions of this test, although there are not currently any scientific studies that have conclusively demonstrated this. The time period that it takes to develop antibodies to HIV can vary from one person to another. For roughly 80% of people, HIV antibodies can be detected starting at about six weeks after infection. For other people, it can take up to three months before antibodies become detectable. For this reason, the “window period” for the detection of HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies is still considered to be three months. In other words, a negative test result will only tell for certain that a person has not been infected if the person has waited three months (following an activity that involves a risk of HIV transmission) before getting tested.
Source: SUPPLÉMENT Dépistage du VIH dans les points de service à l’aide de trousses de dépistage rapide : Guide à l’intention des professionnels de la santé du Québec, juin 2009, Institut national de santé publique du Québec (document de travail).
Something to note
The nurses who work at SPOT can help you to choose the type of HIV test that’s best suited to your needs and situation.
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