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HIV is the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).
Everybody can become infected. Most infected persons look and feel well but may infect others unknowingly.
Most common causes of infection are:
- unprotected sexual contacts with infected persons
- repeated use of needles in connection with drugs
- use of unsafe blood products or transfusion with infected blood
- transfer of infection from a seropositive mother to her child
Most HIV infected persons develop AIDS. New treatments have shown a
considerable improvement of life expectancy and quality of life, particularly
upon early diagnosis. Most countries have set up extensive help programs that ensure proper treatment and good care.
Infections of unborn children can be prevented in most cases, if early diagnosis is made. Many governments across the world strongly
recommend, or even oblige HIV testing for all pregnant women.
There are several known varieties of HIV. When testing, make sure that you
test at least on presence of antibodies against HIV-1 and HIV-2 and preferably also HIV-O. The MiraTes HIV Hometest is highly accurate in
testing for all these three varieties.
The MiraTes HIV Hometest detects antibodies which are made by the
human body to fight infections with HIV. After infection with HIV, the human
body produces antibodies to eliminate the virus. The problem with AIDS is that the HIV antibodies cannot eliminate the virus itself. It takes a while
before a HIV infection can be determined through testing for antibodies, this
is called the window period. The standard window period is set on three months. This means that the body needs three months to produce a
sufficient amount of antibodies that can be detected. Therefore it is also
possible, when tested within the window period, to get a negative test result
and still be infected. For a reliable test result it is very important to perform
a test after this so-called window period of 3 months.
When you have reason to suspect a possible infection of yourself or your
sexual partner(s), it is wise to take action and conduct a test. We advise
you to wait 3 months before you do a test. It is possible to test sooner, but
you have to re-test 3 months after a possible infection. It is advisable to
choose the moment of testing on a point of time that you can contact somebody for help and support in case of a positive test result. The test
result can be of influence if you want to effect insurance.
We refer to the instruction sheet
(see buttonbar left) that is included in your testkit to conduct the 6 simple steps.
A reactive (positive) or inconclusive result should be re-tested to confirm the
initial result. A repeatedly positive result is presumptive evidence of the
presence of antibodies to HIV-1, HIV-2.
Do not interpret a positive reaction from the MiraTes rapid HIV screen test
as absolute evidence of infection with HIV, nor AIDS. All repeatedly positive
or inconclusive results must be confirmed by other methods, such as Western Blot laboratory test or other suitable tests, as is general practice
with most diagnostics.
In case of a positive or inconclusive test result we advise you to contact a
doctor to have the test result confirmed. If necessary change your lifestyle and habits to
exclude the possibility of infecting other people, until you are certain you are not
infected with HIV.
A non-reactive (negative) result indicates the absence of detectable
antibodies to HIV in the specimen. The MiraTes HIV Hometest has proven to be very accurate and has shown an agreement with the standard
laboratory tests of over 99%. False positive test results do occur, and may
be relatively more frequent in low risk population testing. A negative test
result does not totally exclude the possibility of exposure to, or infection with
HIV.
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