In an effort to detect the HIV virus more quickly than ever before, the United States Food and Drug Administration has approved a test that would, if the results were positive, slow the spread of the disease early on when it was in its most infectious stage.
ARCHITECT HIV Ag/Ab
The test called ARCHITECT HIV Ag/Ab Combo assay was developed by Abbot Laboratories Inc. If successful, the test would be able to detect the presence of the virus with much more accuracy in the weeks immediately following its transmission. This would be a huge breakthrough for patients who are infected as it would allow for a much faster implementation of treatment efforts. It would also serve to stop the further spread of this deadly disease.
The test allows for proper detection of the HIV virus in an estimated 90% of infections considered to be acute or before the development of the antibodies associated with the disease. Currently the only U.S. testing available only detects the antibodies rather than the virus itself. The antibodies present with HIV show up weeks after the initial infection, which greatly diminishes the chance of successful treatment plan, and allows for a higher chance of spreading from person to person.
FDA Approval and Health Insurance Considerations
The test is also the first to ever be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be used on women who are pregnant. The test would allow for quicker treatment of these women and help to prevent the spread of the virus to their unborn children. Now that the test is approved by the FDA, any woman with a proper individual or family health insurance plan could request it – especially if the plan has good coverage for diagnostic tests (you can request a quote from this site to find a plan that does).
Roughly 18,000 million people are tested annually in the United States for HIV, and approximately 56,000 are found to be infected with the virus.
photo credit: stevendepolo