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HIV/AIDS: Self testing now available

HIV/AIDS: Self testing now available
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HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, can cause AIDS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Disease. According to the World Health Organisation, almost half of people who are HIV positive do not know they are infected, hence the importance of making self testing kits widely available. It is estimated that just over 100,000 people are living with HIV in the UK. So what do you need to know about self testing? And what are the recent developments in terms of treatment? 

SIDA pixabay

Self testing that you can do at home to detect AIDS/HIV

This self test can detect the AIDS virus using your saliva, if contamination occurred more than three months ago. If contamination occurred during the past three months, the test will show up negative. Blood tests carried out by a doctor can detect the virus from around 2 weeks after contamination.

From 15 days after contamination, certain symptoms generally appear, such as fever, skin breakouts, tiredness, diarrhea, etc. These signs can disappear but can reappear a few months or years after contamination because the virus has weakened the immune system.

If the self testing kit shows a negative result (from three months after contamination), it is 99.9% accurate. If the test shows a positive result, the reliability falls to 91.7%, with 8.3% of false positives.

SIDA-test-Wikimedia-commons-Oraquick
HIV test Wikimedia-commons-Oraquick

In 2016, biology researchers in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem discovered a treatment that could lead to a complete cure for AIDS in the next few years.

The researchers created a protein that promotes the integration of copies of the HIV genome into infected cells, which ultimately self-destruct. They tested this on blood samples from contaminated people. The self-destruction of the infected cells prevents the spread of the virus in the body.

 

The treatment was first tested on blood samples in the Kaplan Medical Centre in Rehovot, Israel. The results showed a 97% reduction in the virus. The infected cells were destroyed and the virus did not reappear.

However, this discovery needs to be put into perspective, as the  method has yet to be tested on people affected by AIDS. Just because the treatment works on blood samples doesn’t mean that it will necessarily work on people who are infected. Even if the treatment provides hope in terms of finding a cure, we will have to wait at least 5 years before we know whether it can be used to treat humans. 

 

Sources : Info ISTSanté Magazine, Test salivaire


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