New HIV Test

[highlander]

This sounds like a variant on the PCR test that has been around for a while.
The main innovation is lowering the cost. This test is more like 99.5% effective
http://uk.gay.com/article/3663

The test is a bit more expensive than regular testing-but it is the first time
that it seriously looks like testing alone would clearly be better than condoms(at least if you thought it was pretty unlikely your partner had been infected the last 10 days). Condoms would still help somewhat-and would help with things that might not be tested for(or even well understood yet).

[Spoomonkey]

Great info!

Thanks for posting it!

Spoomonkey

[highlander]

Originally Posted by Spoomonkey

Great info!

Thanks for posting it!

You are very welcome.

It will be interesting to see if folks actually use this test to any extent. I've said for a long time testing technology was likely to advance faster than other AIDS preventatives. There are some logistical issues to this test. Basically you _have_ to draw blood and ship the test off for results. Also, newly infected folks can be very contagious.

I think that this newer testing methodology would work pretty well for a club that was composed of stable married couples that agreed to not swing outside the club without a retest 10 days later--and that tested all members every 2-3 months routinely.

BTW they have some tests that use similar technology for stuff like Chlamydia that has been hard to spot in a dormant state.

[highlander]

putting this into perspective:
If someone _consistently uses condoms-and is in a community that has a fairly high rate of HIV, the chance of winding up HIV+ in the course of a 20 years of sexual intercourse, might be 1 in 10 to 1 20.

If you used these NAAT tests consistently to screen your partners(say getting tested every 2-3 months), the
chance would go down to 1-200.

If you used _both_ condoms and the NAAT test, that is reduced to 1 2000.

1 Million folks are now living with AIDS. that is probably 1-150 of the sexually active community--probably more like 1 in 40 of folks that are
"players" or answering casual sex ads and what not.

I used 1-20 to caculate the odds above-just to be conservative. I'm also figuring a 1-100 chance of transmission-which is generally high for heterosexual intercourse-but some of the newer studies say that folks are quite a bit more contagious right after being infected. I'm also figuring 2 encounters per week over 20 years.

These numbers are _conservative_. Lots of swingers have additional factors that tend to contain risk-like they only play with folks in a stable primary relationship.

[highlander]

These folks specialize in testing for the Adult Film Industry.

http://www.aim-med.org/testbymail.html

They have a testing package for $110(Includes HIV, Gonorhea, Chlamydia) . The _difference_ between their tests and the ones commonly used is these PCR tests are accurate for AIDS within 2 weeks of infection. Also, this lab provides a report that is more difficult to fake than those commonly used by other labs(yes, people do sometimes fake lab results).

Note: I haven't used these folks nor am I in any way affiliated with them-but this is the first place I've seen where this newer test is widely available.