![]() ![]() Rapid test immunoassays are quickly solving this conundrum: Clinicians can tell a patient his status in only 20 minutes. This method has the benefit of ensuring that the patient knows his status whether or not he ever follows up. Others, however, believe that calling a patient and simply asking him to come in to discuss an HIV test is an obvious giveaway of an unwanted result, and that the news should simply be broken immediately, over the phone. Some doctors refuse to tell patients over the phone, choosing instead to make an appointment and tell them in person so they can quell the patient’s panic and ask crucial follow-up questions. There are several ways to tell a patient he has HIV. When a patient receives this anomalous result, he is usually thrust into the formal process of an HIV diagnosis. Because the problem is so rare, it has attracted little research or attention from the press. Many doctors are unaware of the nonviral bands and think them to be a sign of early seroconversion. Yet none of their recommendations were ever taken. If it turns up one band or several “equivocal” bands, the test is considered “indeterminate” and should be run again in about a month.Īll of these groups recognized the same fact: Nonviral bands show up as a result of a lab error, not a blood infection. If a Western Blot turns up two or more reactive bands, the patient is considered HIV-positive. These tests also search for antibodies, but rather than turning “reactive” or “nonreactive,” they detect about 10 different “viral bands.” These bands are specific antibodies that bind to different components of the virus. It must be followed up with a confirmatory test, usually a Western Blot. If an immunoassay test turns up HIV-related antibodies, it’s considered “reactive.” But a reactive immunoassay is not considered proof of an HIV infection. (Earlier generations of immunoassays were called ELISAs, pronounced “Eliza” most immunoassays today are a newer generation called EIAs, but many doctors still call them ELISAs as shorthand.) The immune system floods the body with these antibodies soon after HIV infection as it attempts, in vain, to fight off the virus. Rather, the primary diagnostic tool, an immunoassay, tests for antibodies that react to HIV. ![]()
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