An HIV testing kit that delivers results in minutes will soon be available in six health regions in Saskatchewan, the provincial health ministry announced Tuesday.
Currently, most tests to determine if someone is HIV-positive are done through a clinical laboratory, which can take two to three days to produce results. The wait can be longer if a test sample must be shipped from a distant location.
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Beginning in the new year, rapid-response testing kits will be on hand at hospitals, walk-in medical offices and other health clinics.
Dr. Moira McKinnon, Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer, said the new test kits are valuable because they can reduce the anxiety associated with a human immunodeficiency virus test, especially if the result is negative. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.
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“Negative is negative,” McKinnon said about the reliability of the rapid response kits. She explained that the test can produce a false positive result, however, about one per cent of the time. For that reason, the rapid-response tests are followed up with lab testing.
Rapid treatment can stave off infection
“It’s important to start medication right away,” McKinnon said, noting that depending on the initial exposure, it is possible to prevent HIV from setting in if treatment begins right away.
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The rapid response is also useful for providing immediate medical follow-up with people testing positive. McKinnon said health officials found that some people would show up for a lab test, but not stick around to learn the results.
“They would just disappear,” McKinnon said.
Information about the rapid test kits will be circulated at needle exchange programs, doctors’ offices and other medical facilities.
McKinnon said the initial locations will be studied, to ensure the program is working as planned, and it would likely be expanded to other health regions in the province. There are 12 regions altogether.
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