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The FDA first approved an express HIV test at home
Last reviewed: 17.10.2021
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One of the most serious problems in combating the spread of HIV / AIDS is to convince people to be systematically tested for HIV.
Unfortunately, getting someone to go to the hospital is not easy and easy, especially in villages where there are not many alternatives for discrete testing. In order to solve the privacy problem, the administration of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unanimously approved an express HIV test, which will enable many people to check themselves at home and get the result in as little as 20 minutes.
The company that created the test, OraSure, distributed the OraQuick rapid HIV test among doctors and medical institutions since 2004. According to representatives of the FDA, the HIV test is easily and simply used, like a pregnancy test. HIV tests could be done earlier at home, but they had to be mailed to the laboratory and then wait for the results for several days.
According to the FDA, the OraQuick test will provide an opportunity to reach a much wider range of potential buyers and will enable people to instantly determine whether they are HIV-positive. According to government officials, almost 240,000 people in the US alone do not know that they are infected, and this test is a huge and serious step towards curbing the spread of HIV / AIDS.
Recall that recent studies conducted by OraSure, found that this accuracy of the results of the rapid test was only 93% with the required 99%. After the talks, the FDA team decided that the advantages of the test far outweighed this shortcoming. FDA experts also stressed the importance of ensuring that the rapid test package should clearly state that a negative result does not necessarily mean that a person does not have HIV.
OraSure did not say what the price of the OraQuick test would be as soon as it appeared on the drugstore shelves. Now the professional version of OraQuick HIV tests is sold at a price of 17.50 USD.