Aa
Hope these questions help
Hi Doctor. I will start with my situation, much like many others I had protected sex with a couple of CSW over the last year. the last exposure was on March 15th of this year. I recieved PCR and anitbody testing through a reputable testing service who then sent it to a major lab, twice, once on 5/8 and another round of the same testing on 6/12. All results were negative. I have a few questions though. When giving my info to the personel over the phone, I only gave my name and DOB and that i was a male.If you could answer, 1) Do they track these tests by other means like a number system? should I have given more info? Also, if some one were to use a home access test for future monitoring would these tests being shipped in hot or cold weather affect thier reliability, given that they arent climate controlled usually. I am referring to the finger ***** test you do at home and run it yourself. Thank you again for your time. I hope I'm not the only one with these questions.
Since the Homeaccess test is being referenced I thought I'd throw out some info I checked on in regards to whether or not they check for HIV-2 as some posters have stated in recent months. I received the following reply from Homeaccess when I e-mailed them:
"Our test looks for the antibodies of HIV-1. HIV-2 is generally not a concern in the United States. The "2" is an identifier used to distinguish it for the African population which suffers from HIV in epidemic proportions. However, the basic anatomy of the two versions of virus are similar enough that our test will also detect the presence of HIV-2 antibodies."
They're dumbing down the difference between the two strains but obviously they claim to be able to detect HIV-2. I wonder if the FDA would endorse this statement??
"Our test looks for the antibodies of HIV-1. HIV-2 is generally not a concern in the United States. The "2" is an identifier used to distinguish it for the African population which suffers from HIV in epidemic proportions. However, the basic anatomy of the two versions of virus are similar enough that our test will also detect the presence of HIV-2 antibodies."
They're dumbing down the difference between the two strains but obviously they claim to be able to detect HIV-2. I wonder if the FDA would endorse this statement??
Sorry to keep replying, I checked my mailed results and there is a specimen number and a control number. Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
Sorry Doctor, Just to clarify, I found a company on the website whom i paid, They sent me to a draw station who then sent my specimen to a lab. Thanks again.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
The additional information doesn't change my response. But it sounds like they have a secure system to assure no mix-up of results.
I won't have any further replies.
I won't have any further replies.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Your opening comment suggests you have read other similar questions. My answers are the same as for those. Condom-protected sex, even with a CSW, is zero-risk for HIV transmission and you can rely on the negative test results. You didn't need testing, but in any case the negative results prove you didn't catch HIV.
1) I cannot comment on any particular clinic's management of test result for people who test anonymously or with limited information. You'll have to ask them how certain they are that the test results they gave you were your own. But most likely they are pretty careful about such things.
2) The Home Access test is designed to withstand all the transport conditions that are expected by US mail: cold, heat, rain, excess time in specimen transport, and the like. Before approving marketing of the test, the US Food and Drug Administration required to company to submit research data to show that such things are not a problem.
HHH, MD
1) I cannot comment on any particular clinic's management of test result for people who test anonymously or with limited information. You'll have to ask them how certain they are that the test results they gave you were your own. But most likely they are pretty careful about such things.
2) The Home Access test is designed to withstand all the transport conditions that are expected by US mail: cold, heat, rain, excess time in specimen transport, and the like. Before approving marketing of the test, the US Food and Drug Administration required to company to submit research data to show that such things are not a problem.
HHH, MD
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