5 Reasons to Get an HIV Test Today
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Everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 should be tested for HIV at least once in their lifetime, advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Despite the CDC’s sweeping recommendation, however, only about 45 percent of adults in the U.S. have ever gotten an HIV test.
HIV is most common among intravenous drug users and men who have sex with men, and the CDC recommends that people in these groups get tested most often (at least once a year). Yet it’s not just these groups who are at risk. For example, in 2015, a quarter of the new HIV infections were found in heterosexuals. And African-Americans of both genders accounted for 45 percent of all new HIV diagnoses.
“HIV testing is very important for any sexually active person,” says Alex Carballo-Diéguez, Ph.D., a professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University and a research scientist with the New York State Psychiatric Institute HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies.
Regardless of your background, in honor of National HIV Testing Day, here are five reasons to consider getting screened.
1. You May Be at Risk Without Realizing It
The CDC estimates that about 1.1 million people live with HIV in the U.S. But about one in every seven of them don’t know they’re infected. (You can be HIV positive for a decade or more before experiencing any symptoms.)
Philip Chan, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine at Brown University and director of the Rhode Island STD Clinic, gives the example of a married couple in which one partner has been unfaithful. That would mean the other could have been exposed unknowingly.
“It’s uncomfortable talking to patients about these things,” Chan says. That may be one reason the rate of screening is so low, he says, and why he and others would like to see it become a more routine part of care.
2. Testing Is Convenient and Inexpensive
Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), insurers must cover HIV screening without a co-payment. Ask whether your doctor can administer the test in his or her office. Otherwise, some community health centers, substance-abuse programs, and hospitals offer free testing. You can find a testing site in your area using this CDC tool.
Keep in mind, Chan notes, that although the test itself should be covered without a co-pay, an office visit to get the test may require one or count toward your deductible.
Many clinics use a rapid HIV test, which will give you a result in about 30 minutes.
You can also test yourself at home using a kit you can buy at a retail pharmacy. The FDA-approved OraQuick HIV test usually costs about $40. It involves an oral swab and returns a result in around 20 minutes.
Because most HIV tests check for antibodies the body produces to fight the virus, and these can take time to build up in your system, no HIV test is accurate right after you may have been exposed. For a blood test at the doctor’s office, it may take three to 12 weeks for it to be accurate. For an at-home saliva test, you’ll need to wait at least two to three months.
3. You’re Pregnant
The CDC recommends that every pregnant woman be screened for HIV. That’s because a woman can pass HIV to the developing fetus. But HIV medications can reduce that risk, Chan says.
If a woman starts taking these drugs, which lower the concentration of the HIV virus in her body, “then the transmission rate to the baby becomes basically zero,” he says.
4. You Have Early Symptoms of HIV
If you’ve recently had unprotected sex with a new partner, it’s a good idea to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases. But you may want to be especially diligent about getting an HIV test if, two to four weeks after possible exposure, you develop flu-like symptoms, such as fever, chills, a sore throat, muscle aches, or swollen lymph nodes.
Some (though not all) people newly infected with HIV may experience these symptoms, which can last a few weeks.
5. HIV Is Treatable—and Survivable
Technically, HIV still has no cure. But improvements in the drugs available to treat the virus mean that HIV-positive people using them can expect to live many years. A 2017 study in The Lancet medical journal found that life expectancy among some HIV-positive people who start using antiretroviral therapy (ART), which involves taking a combination of drugs meant to reduce the amount of the virus in the body, is almost as long as the general population.
“But the key is to start treatment early,” Carballo-Diéguez says. Delaying treatment means the virus will have more time to harm your immune system, putting you at risk for other infections.
If you do receive a positive result, talk with your doctor about starting antiretroviral therapy. Because it’s so effective at keeping HIV-positive people healthy, ART is recommended for every person who has the disease, at any stage. The therapy also reduces the likelihood that you’ll transmit the virus to others.
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