OraQuick Home Swab Test: usage/reliability/7 weeks

[stefan158]

I'm a 34-year-old I had unprotected vaginal/oral-both-ways sex (I'm not worried about the oral) with a 37-year-old Latina girl I met at a bar on Sept. 3rd. For reasons I enumerated in the member's forum on Oct. 3rd, I felt the encounter was far more suspect than it sounds. I took the Uni-gold blood test at Planned Parenthood at 4 weeks & got a negative result; all other STD tests were clear at that time as well. Tonight, at 49 days post-possible-exposure, I just now took the new OraQuick oral swab test & got a negative result. According to the test kit, you're supposed to swab the upper & lower gums just once, then put the swab in a tube with solution. The swabbing procedure felt extremely... how shall I put it... fraught with possibility for user error. Also, a tiny little bit of the solution in the test tube bubbled out when I "gently popped" it off, per the instructions. The instructions said if the solution spills, the test won't work. However, the Control line clearly appeared. Does that mean I used it correctly? I would venture to guess so.

If it was correctly done, where do you think I stand at this point re: likelihood of truly being hiv-negative, given that the test claims a false negative rate of 8.3%?  At this point, if I were to have vaginal sex with someone, and the condom came off/broke, and I didn't realize it for a good solid while, would I be putting her at much risk, in your opinion?

Thank you.

[Teak]

It's not up for debate. The guidelines are 3 months post exposure.

[stefan158]

I am aware of OraQuick's & the CDC's excessively cautious, cover-their-***** statements regarding the 97%/3 months/6 months. But in reality, the window is much shorter than that. I know you favor the old tried-and-true "no test has been developed and marketed that can provide conclusive results in less than 3 months." And you are correct. However, if that statement sufficed as a satisfactory answer, this entire forum would cease to have any purpose. The primary utility of this forum, in fact, lies in the discussion of test result probabilities along a more nuanced, shorter timeline, because people are looking to those probabilities to determine an appropriate outlook, emotional & otherwise, regarding their clinical futures.

[Teak]

http://www.oraquick.com/FAQs


The OraQuick In-Home HIV Test can give you accurate results 3 months from exposure. Most people will develop antibodies to HIV within this period of time.  

If you test within 3 months of possible exposure and the result is negative, you may want to repeat the test at least 3 months after the possible exposure.  

Ninety-seven (97) percent of people develop antibodies within the first 3 months after infection. In rare cases, it can take up to 6 months.

[stefan158]

umm... that question was supposed to be for the expert forum, For Dr. HHH. I didn't mean to start another thread. How do I post it there?