HIV testing... In England!?

In the UK (i live in Brighton), when you go to a STD clinic, when you are tested for HIV, can you ask to have the mouth swab to test for HIV aswell as the blood test, so you have a good idea of whether you are infected straight away instead of waiting a week or two? Can you buy these tests in chemists etc in the UK?

Also how long does it take typicaly for the test results to come back, especially if your positive as i assume they'll wanna get in contact quickly if you are!?

Is there a way where they can prick your finger or something and find out straight away?

In Brighton, the Terrence Higgins Trust, can provide an HIV (blood) test where you can receive a result in 1 hour.

Contact them in complete confidence on 0845 122 1200 for information.

( It is believed that around 1/3 of people with HIV in the UK are unaware that they are infected )

Rapid Tests for HIV
Another type of test that you may hear about is called OraQuick-Advanced also known as the 'Rapid HIV Test'. This HIV-1 antibody test offers results that are 99.6% accurate and the results can be determined within 20-30 minutes. You should be aware that if the result of the test is positive, it is still preliminary until a confirmatory test is conducted. While there is a high probability that you are infected with HIV, it will still be necessary to have a confirmatory test to be sure. This confirmatory test takes several days to get the final results.

The rapid test can be conducted through either a mouth swab or finger-prick and the mechanism used could vary from test site to test site.

Home HIV Antibody Tests
At this time, one company, Home Access, offers an FDA-approved at-home antibody test. This test costs about $45 to $70, depending on whether you pay for 72-hour results (they give you a pre-paid express delivery envelope to expedite shipping your sample to the lab) or standard 7-10 day results.

Home Access uses a blood sample from a finger prick, which you then send to a certified laboratory for testing. You must call a toll-free number to register your sample prior to shipping. Enclosed in the test kit is an identifying number. Results take three days to one week. To obtain results, you give the operator the ID number and they will look up the result of the test. This number system provides you with an anonymous test result so your result cannot be reported to anyone else.

Home Access uses traditional ELISA and Western Blot procedures, so the results are as accurate as one would receive with an antibody test at an anonymous testing site. The privacy of the home test offers some consumers more comfort than going to a public test site.

Remember, as with testing at an anonymous or confidential site, you must wait three to six months (the window period) after your potential exposure to take the at-home test, to be certain if the activity you are concerned about did or did not infect you with HIV.

With the availability of the HIV rapid test, some companies are now considering developing a new type of 'at-home' testing that could provide preliminary test results in less than 30 minutes. Similar to at-home pregnancy tests, consumers would be able get these preliminary results at home without having to mail in a blood specimen (as is required by the Home Access test that is currently available). Such a test has not yet been approved by the FDA. It should be noted that even if it is approved, the person being tested still must wait the 'window period' as previously described, and take a 'confirmatory test' if there is a preliminary positive result.