New HIV Test Generates Results In Minutes, Not Weeks

A new HIV test by Epitope has the potential to change these statistics by providing results in 20 minutes, not 2 weeks. As reported by Matt McMillan in the Washington Post, The OraQuick is a new test to determine the presence of HIV antibodies in the bloodstream. These antibodies are produced only by people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS. Approved by the Food and Drug Administration in November 2002 and soon to be widely used, the OraQuick gives results in a matter of minutes. Under a waiver granted Jan. 31 by the Department of Health and Human Services, “the test can be done in virtually any venue [and] without a licensed lab tech,” says Mick Ellis, the Whitman-Walker Clinic’s director of HIV testing and counseling.

Producing results during the same office visit that the test is performed is a simple advance which may well have profound results on the AIDS epidemic in the United States and elsewhere. “The vast majority of people who learn they are infected reduce risky behavior. . . . This big change in testing will help keep negatives negative and help us work with positives to keep [other] people negative,” according to Robert Janssen, director of surveillance and epidemiology in the CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention.