For all these tests, a blood test should be carried out to confirm the result if the first test is positive. A total of 179 HIV-infected patients and 60 HIV non-infected patients were included. Among the HIV-infected patients, 65% were male and 70% were Caucasian. In the HIV non-infected group, 33% were male and 98% were Caucasian. Only 2 patients were HIV-2-positive, and 44% of the HIV-1-positive patients were infected with the subtype B virus. Among the HIV-infected patients, 49% (88/179) had been infected with HIV for over 10 years, and 60% (107/179) were at stage A of the CDC score. Furthermore, 73% (131/179) had received HAART for at least 2 years. The median CD4 value was 533/mm 3, and 53% (95/179) of patients presented CD4 counts above 500/mm 3. Finally, 67% (121/179) of the infected patients had an undetectable viral load (<50 cp/mL). The HIV epidemic in Vietnam is concentrated among key populations, such as PWID, FSW, MSM, and transgender women. While HIV prevalence among PWID and FSW has declined, it has rapidly increased among MSM and transgender women in the last decade. The government of Vietnam has committed to achieving UNAIDS 95-95-95 goals and ending AIDS by 2030. HIV testing innovations, i.e., lay provider testing and self-testing, have been implemented in Vietnam since 2015 and 2016, respectively, with the aim of increasing access among unreached people. Evidence in Vietnam shows that these testing innovations are effective in reaching undiagnosed people and first-time testers or those who may not otherwise test or come to health facilities [ 50, 51]. Some people are at particularly high risk of becoming infected with HIV and may be advised to have regular tests. Seek medical advice immediately if you think there's a chance you could have HIV. The earlier it's diagnosed, the earlier you can start treatment and avoid becoming seriously ill.

The window period refers to the time after infection and before seroconversion, during which markers of infection (p24 antigen and antibodies) are still absent or too scarce to be detectable. Tests cannot reliably detect HIV infection until after the window period has passed. All tests have a window period, which varies from test to test. Do not open the foil pouch containing the self-test device until you are ready to perform the test. The promise of having a ‘fourth-generation’ point of care test that detects p24 antigen is that the window period should be shortened. However, several studies found that although the older version of this test performed well in respect of established HIV infection, its ability to detect recent HIV infection did not match that of laboratory antibody/antigen tests. The test was quite insensitive to p24 antigen, making it only marginally better than antibody-only tests in detecting acute (recent) infection. By making the test widely available, Boots UK helps accessibility of self-testing reach a ‘turning point’ on the UK high street and helps support the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) and partners to meet the ‘90-90-90 targets’ to beat AIDS by 2030. [3] Delaugerre C et al. Assessment of HIV Screening Tests for Use in Preexposure Prophylaxis Programs. Journal of Infectious Diseases 216:382-386, 2017.

Types of HIV test

Indicates products intended for use by both professional healthcare and untrained lay users at POC setting. ** Indicates products intended for use by healthcare professionals at POC setting. -Indicates products under development or research purposes only.

If you get an HIV test after a potential HIV exposure and the result is negative, get tested again after the window period. Remember, you can only be sure you are HIV-negative if: The COVID-19 pandemic expedited self-testing technologies like no other time in history. The global crisis that rapidly unfolded in early 2020 spurred the need to reduce morbidity and mortality in the general population due to SARS-CoV-2, a highly infectious respiratory virus that is spread through aerosols in exhaled breath. Unprecedented international research and development funding, global scientific collaboration, and intense commercial competition led to the development of self-testing kits for SARS-CoV-2 to help contain the spread of infection and signal the need for healthcare visits or hospitalization. In the three years since the onset of COVID-19, several SARS-CoV-2 self-tests have been successfully brought to market, while many exciting advances were reported in the scientific literature that have yet to develop into commercial products. In the United States, self-tests were available online at no cost to U.S. residents [ 14], with the goal of improving access to self-testing and self-regulation of COVID-related health behaviors, such as mask-wearing and social distancing. Despite many important achievements in sample pre-processing, detection methods, biochemistry methods, sensors, and instrumentation for rapid and simple SARS-CoV-2 testing in viral transport media, saliva, and exhaled breath, the predominant methods utilized during the pandemic for self-testing and point-of-care testing relied upon established pre-existing technology such as lateral flow test strips and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) [ 15]. While the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet concluded, many of the diagnostic technologies developed in the past three years are poised to make an impact for other pathogen-driven diseases where reduced cost, reduced sample-to-answer time, and simple workflows can improve health outcomes. We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the usability and performance of blood-based HIVST. The primary outcomes of interest were the usability, acceptability, feasibility, and accuracy of blood-based HIVST kits in the hands of unassisted lay users. Usability was defined as the number and percentage of participants who completed all testing steps correctly without assistance and interpreted the results correctly. Acceptability was measured through acceptance of HIVST, willingness to recommend the test, desire to use the test in the future, preference for use of the test, and WTP for HIVST. Feasibility was measured by the ability of lay users to correctly use the self-test, succeed in obtaining an interpretable result, and correctly interpret the results. Accuracy was estimated by the sensitivity and specificity of HIVST kits compared to the gold standard enzyme immunoassay (EIA) or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test (i.e., Murex HIV Ag/Ab Combination). There are three types of HIV tests: nucleic acid tests (NAT), antigen/antibody tests, and antibody tests, and they all have different window periods:

How to return items

If the test finds no sign of infection, your result is "negative". If signs of infection are found, the result is "positive". Livant E et al. The fourth generation Alere™ HIV Combo rapid test improves detection of acute infection in MTN-003 (VOICE) samples. Journal of Clinical Virology 94:15-21, 2017.