Rapid HIV Blood Test

Rapid HIV Home Testing Kits

    The Home Bio HIV test is an easy to use, accurate and reliable assay that will detect antibodies to the Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) present in whole blood, serum or plasma.

    The test is easy to use and the result is available within minutes – in the privacy of your own home.

Accurate and Specific
    Our test kits are the same as those used by doctors and other healthcare professionals to screen for infection with HIV. The test is specific for HIV and has an accuracy of greater than 99%.

Performing the test
    You simply prick your finger, using the lancet provided, and transfer a few drops of your blood to the test cassette with the dropper provided and add a small quantity of buffer solution. The easy to read result will develop after ten minutes and you will learn your HIV status.

    The test comes with an easy to understand instruction sheet.

What is HIV?
    HIV stands for the human immunodeficiency virus. The retrovirus is a precursor to the disease AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). The infection is spread through the exchange of blood or other bodily fluids such as semen or vaginal fluid and so the disease can be transmitted during sexual contact (both heterosexual and homosexual sex) or through drug abuse by sharing needles. In the western world, these mechanisms represent the major transmission routes for young adults. Health care workers are at risk of contracting the disease in the workplace so it is imperative that proper hygiene measures are in place when treating patients that might have been exposed to the virus.

    HIV, as the name implies, is a disease of the immune system. The virus infects the cells of the immune system, damaging them or destroying them. This renders the victim less able to fight off other (opportunistic) infections.

    The incubation period for the virus is between 7 and 42 days after which anti-bodies to HIV can be detected and symptoms of the disease may appear. Very frequently, there are no obvious symptoms that show an individual has become HIV positive – this can only be confirmed by testing. However, in some people symptoms such as fever, joint pains, swollen lymph glands and rash may be presented – these are referred to as acute retroviral syndrome and the symptoms are similar to those of glandular fever. In the initial phase of HIV, the victim is highly infectious and can pass the virus on to sexual partners or others via blood borne contact (e.g. sharing a hypodermic needle)

    If HIV is untreated, it is likely to develop into AIDS within 10 to 15 years (although in some people this takes longer), symptoms of HIV related illness will typically manifest five years earlier.

    Currently, HIV and AIDS cannot be cured, but they can be treated. With all illnesses, the prognosis is best if the disease is detected in its early stages. Modern anti-retroviral medicines can restrict the multiplication of HIV within the immune system and prevent the onset of AIDS. By restricting the damage to the immune system, the patient’s own body is better able to fight off illnesses that the patient encounters. Since 1996, a cocktail of three or more anti-retroviral drugs has been found to prolong and improve the quality of life for HIV positive individuals, but the treatment is expensive. The cocktail is necessary to combat mutations within the HIV virus effectively. Appropriate drug therapy can prevent an HIV positive woman from passing on the virus during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding; so it is imperative that all pregnant women at risk from HIV be tested as early as possible in their pregnancies.