CDC HIV/AIDS/Viral Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update
Ten-Minute AIDS Test
June 8, 1992
Time (06/08/92) Vol. 149, No. 23, P. 31
A new HIV test was approved that will allow results to be available in
only 10 minutes. Ordinarily, a test takes days because it must be
processed in a laboratory to determine if the patient has HIV. But last
week, the Food and Drug administration approved the new HIV test that can
be operated in a doctor's office by someone with limited training. The
test only requires two test tubes, some chemicals, a medicine dropper,
and a blood sample. If the solution turns blue, the blood is positive
for HIV. The test is more than 99 percent accurate, but for absolute
certainty, a positive result must be confirmed by a more comprehensive
test. This is also the case with conventional HIV tests, as well as
advice to be retested in six months.
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