What is an HIV testing kit, and how can one use it?

It’s estimated that around 1.1 million people in the U.S. live with HIV. And most people, about one in seven, don’t know they have it, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). HIV screening can be the key to controlling the virus. If people can’t get to a clinic for testing or have concerns about their privacy, there is a home testing kit that has been evaluated and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The CDC endorsed that everyone between 13 and 64 years old is screened to buy hiv test kit online at least once as part of their routine health care. A more frequent trial is recommended for people who have a higher risk of infection because of behaviors such as having sex without condoms, having sex with multiple partners, or injecting drugs using shared needles. When people know their HIV status, they have powerful, robust information they can use to take care of themselves.

How can one make use of an HIV testing kit?

• For people who are HIV positive, there are FDA-approved medicines that can help keep the virus under control. These medicines do not cure HIV, but they can help people live longer, healthier lives and reduce the chance they’ll spread the virus to someone else.
• For people who tested as HIV negative, there are FDA-approved PrEP (or pre-exposure prophylaxis) drugs that may help protect against infection. HIV medicines might sometimes cause side effects. It is significant to talk with your health care provider before starting a new medicine and about side effects and warnings for any medicines you take.
• The test examines for antibodies to HIV. Antibodies are enzymes the body makes to fight off an infection.
• The kit consists of a test stick you use to swab your upper and lower gums to collect an oral fluid sample from your mouth. The stick will then be placed in a tube with a testing solution. One line will appear after 20 or 40 minutes if the test is negative. Two lines show that HIV antibodies were detected and that you may be HIV positive.
• If the personal test is positive, a follow-up laboratory test will need to confirm the results.
• More testing through a lab is needed to confirm your HIV status. Look at this as the first step in HIV testing. Because no trial is perfect, there will be some false-positive results.

Buy HIV kit online tests can be offered at many places, including your health care provider’s office.