It used to work like this: You'd go to a doctor's office or clinic. Someone stuck you with a needle (ouch!), drew a vial of your blood (ooh... squeamish!), sent it off to a lab somewhere, and then made you wait two long, agonizing weeks for your results ~ during which time every cough or sneeze you expelled worried you. Then you had to go back to the same office or clinic, often with mixed emotions and lots of "what-if's", and sit nervously while the doctor or nurse told you your results. And, after all that ordeal, did you once get a lollipop?
Then in 2002 the FDA approved a unique test for HIV Type 1 that only required a finger-prick and a teeny little sample of blood which could be swabbed up by a plastic instrument that looked like an EPT testing stick, and 20 minutes later you had your results. 20 MINUTES! That was barely enough time to go through the requisite sexual risk assessment and profile session with the test administrator!
Well now, the people at OraSure Technologies, who developed the 20-Minute blood test have done one better. They've created the first 20-minute ORAL Ora-Quick Advance test. And you know what that means... no more blood! It also means you get to stick something hard in your mouth! Instead of using blood, the new oral test takes cells and saliva from inside your mouth. You pass it along your gums from side to side on your uppers and lowers and then the swab is immersed in the solution. When the 20 minutes are up, the handle of the instrument will show bars... one bar for the control (which tells the doctor that the test worked), and a second bar for a positive reaction. Let's hope you only get one bar! If the test malfunctions, you can take another right away.
What's even better is that the manufacturer claims that the test is 99 percent accurate. And, the OraQuick Advance oral test is sensitive to both HIV-I and II. But even with its accuracy, the manufacturer considers a positive reaction to be a preliminary result. If you do receive 2 bars, the person who administered the test will take a larger sample of blood from you to be tested using the standard Elisa/Western Blot methods. It's always best to get a second opinion to eliminate the possibility of a false positive.
So with this new, quick and painless method of testing, there is nary an excuse to put it off any longer. If you haven't had an HIV test within the last 3 to 6 months, go today! And ask your healthcare provider or testing administrator for one of the OraQuick 20 minute tests. It will save you time, worry, and a whole lot of blood.
For more information about the OraQuick Advance test, please visit the OraSure website at www.orasure.com
To see how often you should get tested based on your sexual habits and practices, visit our Simple HIV Testing Schedule.
HIV Testing: Make it a regular thing!
|
