Saliva HIV test at insurance screen accurate?

[sara242]

Hello.

My question is, would a saliva hiv test, (at a life insurance screen), which took saliva from under the tongue, be conclusive at 4 months after possible infection? Are these under the tongue type tests accurate? It was negative i assume, since i did get the insurance.

Thanks in advance.

[sara242]

Oh ok, i isee what you mean by that! They are accurate though right, if given by an insurance agent and screened in a lab?

I did get tested (blood) at about 8-10 weeks post exposure at a hospital (due to pregnancy). that came out Non-reactive. Then I got the omni-sal (saliva test) at about 4 months post exposure, again negative (since i did get the insurance).

Do you think these are accurate?

Thanks!

[FWK]

Hi,

They are banned in UK because they want everyone to go and test, home kits are not approved.

Thanks

[sara242]

Do you know why they are banned in the UK? I live in the carribean, and they are what the insurance agencies use to screen for HIV in people who want insurance. They are then sent to a lab for testing. Are they banned because they do not work? Or is it only banned for home use?

Thanks!

[Teak]

Home test kits in the UK are banned. It states in the link you provided it is not recommended to use. So the answer is still NO.

[sara242]

Hey Teak:

I also found this online i will post the link also...

Omni-SAL. The Omni-SAL device employs a compressed, absorbent cotton pad attached to a plastic stem. The pad is placed under the tongue and absorbs fluid from the floor of the mouth. The device incorporates an indicator on the plastic stem that turns from white to blue when an adequate amount of sample has been collected. The collection pad is then inserted into a stoppered transport tube containing 1.1 ml of phosphate-buffered saline, pH 7.0, protease inhibitors, surfactants, antimicrobial agents, and 0.2% sodium azide as a preservative. In the laboratory, the collection pad is compressed and the eluate is filtered with a piston-style filter.

This is the link, it has more info on this and other oral tests.
http://cdli.asm.org/cgi/content/full/5/4/419

Here are some more links on it. Apparently its not available in the US? I dont know?

http://www.salv.com/omnisal.htm

http://www.aegis.com/aidsline/1995/aug/M9580296.html

http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/ma?f=102220453.html

[sara242]

Seriously? She said it was for AIDS when i asked about it. When the pad got wet, i noticed a blue film go across the tip of the stick...similiar to how a pregnancy test gets pink in the window before the lines show.
How accurate do you think these articles are then?:

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=30773&in_page_id=34

http://www.hepcure.ca/hiv/entry/268/

http://gaylife.about.com/cs/hivaids1/gr/orasure.htm

Thank you!

[Teak]

You wasn't given an HIV test by sticking it under your tonge.

[sara242]

BUMP

eta: The stick had a sort of fabric pad that you hold under your tongue for about 2-5 minutes until it gets saturated with saliva. Then you place it in a container with some liquid in it.