AIDS Testing

As with all diseases there are things about AIDS and AIDS testing that everyone should be aware of. The sad but very true fact is that AIDS is one of those things that is not picky about the people that become infected. Whether you are heterosexual or homosexual you can still contract AIDS and there is very little that anyone will be able to do about it once you do.

AIDS testing is very similar to HIV testing in most respects. The person that is requesting the AIDS testing needs understand that it is all completely confidential and the results can not and will not be released to any third party without your written permission. This is one of the biggest reasons why many people shy away from AIDS testing. They fear that someone else will find out that they are at risk for the disease.

AIDS testing can be done by most health care professionals around the world. In most cases a simple blood sample is taken and then it is sent to a lab to be tested. For all intents and purposes it will take between seven and ten days for the results to be returned depending on the speed of the lab and how much testing they have to do.

AIDS testing is not the most accurate of all tests and that is something that you should keep in mind. There are times when the test will come back positive when in truth you have nothing more serious than a kidney infection. This is due to the fact that other diseases and infections can present in a similar way to the AIDS virus and bring about a false positive. That is why most doctors require that you do through a series of tests over the span of several months or a year. What they want to see is the same result for each test with no inconsistencies present.

The general rule is that you want to wait as long as possible between exposure and testing. Exposure one day and AIDS testing the next can bring false hope as the test may show negative when you are actually infected.

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