The HIV Test

How do you know if you should be tested for the HIV infection, and where do you go? HIV testing is available at most hospitals, family planning or transmitted disease (STD) clinics, community health centers, drug treatment facilities, and doctors' offices. Most testing sites offer free or inexpensive tests. It is important for a person having an HIV test to undertand the confidentiality policies of the testing center. For this reason the testing facilities offer two types of test procedures: confidential and anonymous. Confidential HIV testing centers record the person's name along with the result and medical personnel and, in some states, the state health department. Annonymous HIV testing means that no name is ever given to the testing center and only the perosn who is having the test is aware of the results. HIV testing can identify HIV antibodies in the blood as ealy as two weeks after infection, but the body may take up to six months to make a measurable amount of antibodies. The average time is 25 days. A positive result on an HIV test means that HIV antibodies are present in your bloodstream and you are HIV positive. The onset of AIDS may take you to 10 or more years. Drug treatments are available that can futher more years. Drug treatment are available that can futher delay the development of AIDS. A seronegative result usually indicates that you are not infected with HIV. However, you should be retested in six months if you have engaged in high-risk behavior during the past six months, because it can take this long for you immune system to produce enough antibodies. It is very important for a person who thinks they have HIV/AIDS to get tested so they do not pass the disease on to other people. SO get tested and decrease the risk of infecting other people. It is a world wide project to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS!!!