HIV & AIDS Health Center

Braving an HIV Test

Getting the Results

In one episode of the TV series Sex and the City, Samantha gets her first HIV test. As she waits for the results in a clinic, a doctor leads her into a private room to discuss her results. Certain that this is the signal she is positive, she collapses as she approaches the door! Actually, she was negative; the doctor just wanted to lecture her on the importance of safe sex.

When it comes to telling you the results, different testing sites will have different customs. Some sites will notify you of negative results by phone, but require you to come in for positive results. Other sites will require you to come in either way (the Home Access kit provides pre- and post- test counseling by phone).

It's no surprise that people who have been told they're HIV-positive are in a vulnerable state. Keep in mind that specialized HIV testing sites or clinics may provide more extensive counseling than, say, a general lab test center or a local doctor.

If a test is positive, "I emphasize that this can be managed, it can be treated, you can have a full, long life," says Stacey Vlahakis, MD, of the HIV center at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

In fact, many HIV patients can manage well with just a single one-a-day treatment. But Vlahakis leaves out discussion of treatment options, further testing, and social support for subsequent visits. "Usually they remember nothing from that first visit," she adds.

If a test turns up negative, "I tell them they're negative for now," Vlahakis says. "It doesn't mean they'll be negative forever. You still have to use condoms with any partner and any kind of sex, and to never share needles or blood products."

That includes being careful of tattoo parlors, which can transmit diseases such as HIV or hepatitis through unclean needles or machinery, Vlahakis says.