Rapid testing for HIV available
An oral HIV test that provides answers in as little as 20 minutes is expected to expand treatment and improve peace of mind for worried Spokane residents.
The Spokane Regional Health District is offering the OraQuick Advanced rapid HIV test to anyone at risk of infection through unsafe sex or intravenous drug use, said Dr. Kim Thorburn, the agency’s health officer.
The Food and Drug Administration-approved test uses a swab of saliva to tell whether a person has developed antibodies for the virus that causes AIDS. It is considered a fast, reliable alternative to blood tests that can take up to two weeks for results.
“We’d have people get up their nerve to test and then never come back,” Thorburn said.
Improving public testing is important at a time when 40,000 people contract HIV in the United States each year and a quarter of the more than 1 million infected people don’t know they have it, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Local health officials believe that between 750 and 1,250 HIV-infected people live in Spokane County. That’s about one in every 400 to 600 residents.
“As a community issue, I really think it’s something that people don’t recognize, but it’s here,” Thorburn said.
Those numbers include an estimated 200 to 300 people who are unaware of their condition, a fact that alarms James Breedlove, director of the HIV/AIDS Speakers Bureau, a Spokane nonprofit agency. The stigma of the disease prevents many from even seeking testing, he said.
“They really don’t want to find out,” said Breedlove, 55, who said he was diagnosed with HIV in 1984 and AIDS in 2000. “I am very worried because the people at risk are everybody. You have the unfortunate chance of passing it on to someone else.”
The rapid saliva tests already have been used successfully with people at high risk of infection, said Christopher Zilar, HIV prevention specialist with the health district.
“For us, it’s phenomenal,” he said. “It’s an amazing option for us to offer with our clients.”
In the past, more than a third of people who sought HIV blood tests never returned for their results, Zilar said. Because Washington HIV tests are anonymous, health officials had no way to contact these people with results.
“If they use the standard test, if they test positive, there’s nothing we can do,” he said.
If a person tests negative with the saliva-based exam, it’s considered a final result. A positive test must be confirmed with more detailed saliva or blood exams, Zilar said.
The $60 test is expected to be a boon to the so-called “worried well,” people at low risk for HIV who might have had unsafe encounters, Zilar said.
About 10 people a week call with concerns, usually about unprotected sex, he said. Most probably will not develop HIV or AIDS, Zilar said.
“But I tell them if you’re having a hard time sleeping, maybe you should get a test,” he said.
The fast, anonymous test will ease concerns of people reluctant to admit they’re seeking testing, even to a family doctor, Zilar noted.
Planned Parenthood of the Inland Northwest also offers the saliva test for HIV, but the agency doesn’t administer it often, said Jet Tilley, director of public policy. Most of the 180 clients who received HIV tests last year, chose the blood test because they’re poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, which won’t pay the $68 fee for the rapid test. People with private insurance or cash can pay for it themselves, she noted.
Breedlove applauds the wider availability of the quick test, but worries that it’s too expensive. HIV infection is growing fastest among young people, with 50 percent of new cases recorded among those age 15 to 24, according to CDC figures.
“They don’t have the money and they’re not going to ask mom or dad to get tested,” Breedlove said. “I think it’s absolutely imperative that this test be available and that they get the cost down.”