HIV RNA Test

The only way to get diagnosed with HIV is through testing. Today, there are thousands of HIV testing hubs that offer free service to people who want to know their status. While there are different types of HIV testing, it still can reach an accurate result. Following this process can help an individual assess his/her health, and if they are truly diagnosed with the infection, they can immediately receive the necessary medical therapy.

Why is it necessary to get tested? It’s pretty obvious that knowing your status can help you take action at the earliest time. Getting tested for the infection not just enables someone to know their condition but also gives them easy access to antiretroviral treatment. Receiving the proper medical care when diagnosed with the illness can help save their lives and live longer like a healthy individual. Who doesn’t like that? Right?

For many years, science has seen remarkable breakthroughs in terms of combating HIV. One of these breakthroughs includes the development of many modalities to know someone’s status. One of the most recent and latest is the HIV RNA test. While it can cost you more dollars, you will get the results immediately. Add to that the accuracy rate it can give. Due to its efficiency in providing an accurate result, thousands of people take advantage of it despite the price.

Considered as a significant type of testing for HIV, HIV RNA can detect early infection. If you suspect yourself of having been exposed to the virus, your healthcare professional will likely recommend this test type. The major difference it has compared to other HIV testing is its capacity to track and defect the actual virus in the blood or the body. Other forms of HIV testing will only check for the antibodies after HIV exposure, although they are still used today because of their effectiveness.

Contraindication

While this type of test may be better than the others due to its early detection feature, it has its own downside – the possibility of having a false positivity result. Why is this so? Usually, the given span of days that the virus can be detected is from 9 until 11 days after exposure to someone who has the virus. As mentioned, this type of test can detect the virus from the actual blood of an individual, which means that someone needs to wait for a few more days as the viral load needs to level the threshold.

How does it function?

If you haven’t known yet, HIV is a type of RNA virus, which is an advantage if someone wants to know their status immediately. This test functions by detecting and checking the actual load of viruses present in the human blood. After extracting a good amount of blood from an individual, it is then tested, and a few minutes after, the result is already available.

If you are proven to be infected, you will have 100,000 viruses present in the blood, and that’s per millimeter of the blood extracted. As the number can be very high, this explains the immediate treatment that someone should follow after obtaining the result. If, in any case, that the result is false positive, you will have to undergo further checking with physicians that will further evaluate your status or condition. Usually, another blood sample will be extracted from your veins, and this time, you will have an accurate result.

What are the benefits of following this test?

• It is rapid.
• It is reliable.
• It may be expensive, but it can give an accurate result.
• No need to wait for a few hours to get your result. In just a span of 20 minutes, you will have your result.

In terms of its accuracy, HIV RNA boasts a 99.89% efficiency rate. Just remember to wait for a little longer (9-11 days after exposure) to know your valid result and no false positivity.

So, why wait for 9-11 days when you can immediately get tested?

For someone who has been exposed to an individual diagnosed with the infection, he/she will feel the need to get tested urgently. If you want an accurate result, you need to follow the law of the HIV RNA test. The period given to people is necessary so that the test can provide a concrete outcome, not just giving you a paper with the number of viruses detailed on it. Failure to follow this guideline will not help you in your treatment.

Get tested today. This is the only way you will know your condition and status. If you cannot help others in avoiding the complications that this virus can cause to them, at least do it for yourself. Know that your health matters. The only way to save it is by taking care of it, and by knowing your status, you are saving yourself already.