November 14, 2005. Copyright, 2004, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Over the counter HIV test kit

LONDON, November 14, Graphic News: HIV testing has come a long way in the past decade. In the mid-1990s patients had to wait as long as two weeks to learn whether they were HIV-positive and were given the news -- which could be a death sentence -- by a doctor, a nurse or a trained counselor.

Now, you can take a swab of saliva from the gums, dip it into a vial of test fluid, and 20 minutes later learn whether youÕre infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

The OraQuick Advance test, made by OraSure Technology of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is already widely available in health clinics and doctorsÕ offices throughout the United States, and the Food and Drug Administration is considering permitting it to be sold over the counter. 

Supporters of home kits say they could potentially draw out an estimated 300,000 or more Americans who live with the infection but donÕt know it. These people are the cause of 65 percent of all new HIV infections in the U.S. each year. People who know they are infected are 50 percent less likely to transmit HIV than those who do not, and one in three people who take a conventional test never bother to call in for the result.

To take the test, a person swabs the inside of his mouth, between the cheek and gum, picking up not saliva but cells lining the mouth. The user then inserts the swab into a vial of fluid that comes with the kit. Twenty minutes later, a band of colour in the test device window will indicate the presence of HIV-1 or HIV-2 antibodies.

HIV-1 is found worldwide while HIV-2 is primarily found in Western Africa. These antibodies become present in the body several weeks after a person acquires HIV; the test will not detect the virus if it was more recently acquired.

Ron Spair, OraSureÕs chief financial officer, said the test is accurate more than 99 percent of the time. However, a positive result from the test should be confirmed through an additional test by doctors or public health officials.

Only one other home-based HIV test, by Home Health Access Corp., has received FDA approval. In that test, a finger-stick blood specimen is collected at home and sent to a laboratory with telephone results available several days later.
/ENDS