Frequent Questions About Testing

What happens during testing?

The testing process will take about 15 minutes. Once paperwork is completed, you will sit and talk with a counselor who will ask you questions about your risk of getting HIV and STI’s. Afterwards, a small sample of blood is drawn to be tested for the HIV and Syphilis testing. You will provide a small urine analysis for the chlamydia and gonorrhea testing.

What does a positive or negative result mean?

A positive result means that the test found antibodies and viral RNA in your blood and that you are infected with HIV.

A negative result means that at the time of the test, no antibodies or viral RNA from HIV were found in your blood. However, a “false negative” test is possible in the event that a person tests too soon after an exposure to HIV, and the virus has not yet replicated in the bloodstream in a sufficient quantity to be picked up by a test. It takes an average of ten days after exposure for there to be enough virus in the bloodstream to be detected by a viral RNA test.

The STI Connection

Sexually Transmitted Infections, or “STI’s” such as Syphilis, Herpes Simplex Virus, Chlamydia, or Gonorrhea are diseases you can get from having unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex.

Obtain more information about various Sexually Transmitted Diseases:

Bacterial Vaginosis

Chlamydia

Gonorrhea

Genital Herpes

Genital HPV Infection

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

Syphilis

Trichomoniasis

How are HIV and AIDS different?

What Is HIV?

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is the virus that causes AIDS. It breaks down your body’s immune system. Your immune system protects you against diseases. HIV is a virus that lives in blood, semen, breast milk and vaginal fluids.

What Is AIDS?  

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is the stage where HIV has severely damaged the immune system, leaving the body vulnerable for more infectious diseases.

Undetectable = Non transmissible

A person who has acquired HIV and is successfully taking their prescribed medication cannot infect another person once the amount of virus in their body is undetectable. Early detection and early treatment is key for not only the individual, but also for public health.

How do you get HIV?

• By having unprotected anal, oral, and/or vaginal intercourse with someone living with HIV whose viral load is not suppressed
• By sharing needles, syringes, cookers or cotton (works) to shoot drugs.
• By being born to an HIV infected mother.
• You can have HIV and not have AIDS. You may feel well and look healthy for years.

What are the signs of HIV?

Quite often, people living with HIV have no signs at all. Sometimes HIV shows signs a lot like the flu. The signs may be similar to and mistaken for other diseases. The difference with HIV is, the signs don’t go away, or keep coming back. If you have any of these signs, and they last several weeks or more, see your doctor.

• Sudden, unexplained weight loss
• feeling very tired all the time/constant fatigue
• fever or night sweats
• diarrhea
• dry coughing not from a cold or smoking
• swollen glands in the neck, armpit or groin
• Pink, blue or purple spots on the skin or in the mouth. (They look like bruises, but don’t go away.)

You cannot get HIV from casual encounters, such as:

Online Resources