HIV Test

HIV can infect anyone regardless of age, race, or sexual orientation, so screening guidelines highlight that it's important to get tested at least once in your lifetime (the CDC recommends more frequent screening tests for people at a greater risk of getting an HIV infection). If you suspect that you may have been exposed to HIV, the Everlywell HIV Test is a convenient way to check.

On average, nearly 40,000 individuals are diagnosed annually in the USA with HIV. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that just over 1 million people are living with HIV in the United States, but up to 13% don't know they're infected.

With the Everlywell HIV home test, you can easily undergo HIV screening from the convenience of home (you collect your sample at home and then mail it to a lab for testing).

 According to the CDC, groups of people at increased risk for HIV infection include:

• People who engage in behaviors such as having unprotected (without condom or other barrier usage) vaginal or anal sex

• People who have another sexually transmitted infection

• People with multiple sexual partners

• People who use or share intravenous needles to inject drugs

Additionally, people who have sexual contact with a known HIV-positive partner are the most at risk for HIV transmission. Pregnant people infected with HIV can also pass the virus to their children during pregnancy.

By screening for exposure to HIV with this test, you can learn your HIV status. This may help people with positive results decide to pursue confirmatory testing, and then seek HIV treatment as soon as possible (if necessary), which also lowers their risk of infecting others. Our HIV antigen/antibody test is simple and discreet, making this test a convenient option to check your exposure status.

Although many cases of HIV do not present with symptoms, it may be common to see them shortly after exposure. A few weeks after coming into contact with HIV, flu-like symptoms may occur, such as:

• Fever

• Headache

• Sore throat

• Swollen lymph nodes (small glands in your neck)

• Rash

• Tiredness

According to the CDC, these symptoms usually disappear within a week to a month. People with HIV may have no other symptoms for many years.

If left untreated, HIV will continue to affect your immune system and can progress to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Symptoms of AIDS include:

• Extreme, unexplained tiredness

• Rapid weight loss

• Soaking night sweats

• Prolonged shaking chills or fever

• Prolonged swelling of lymph nodes (small glands in your neck)

• Chronic diarrhea

• Persistent headaches

• Unusual infections

There’s no cure for HIV. However, medication can slow the damage the virus causes by lowering the amount of HIV in your blood. Medication makes it possible to live a long life—one just as long as you would have without HIV. And in fact, recent studies show that HIV treated to an undetectable level is also likely untransmittable. 

If you test positive for HIV on this test, you will have the opportunity to speak with a board-certified healthcare physician about your results at no additional cost to you.

The CDC recommends everyone between the ages of 15 and 65 should be screened at least once for HIV. More frequent screening is often recommended for people who:

• Are sexually active and between the ages of 18 and 65

• Are men who have sex with other men, regardless of sexuality

• Have new or multiple sex partners

• Have had unprotected sex with someone at high risk of HIV

• Share or have shared injection drugs needles

• Have symptoms of an STI

• Are concerned they’ve been exposed to an STI

• Have had another STI since your last test

• Have hepatitis or tuberculosis (TB)

The HIV antibody/antigen test checks whether or not you have been exposed to HIV.

This HIV test checks a sample of your blood for antibodies against HIV. Tests that only measure antibodies can take 23-90 days to detect an HIV infection after an exposure. This HIV test can usually detect an HIV infection in 18-90 days after exposure because it also checks for HIV p24 antigens (viral proteins) in the blood. Tests that are both an HIV antigen test and also an HIV antibody test are often referred to as 4th generation HIV tests.

If you're having symptoms, it could mean that you have another infection or condition. Talk to your healthcare provider about what’s right for you. If you think you may have been exposed to HIV, it may be too soon to tell if you have it. Talk to your healthcare provider about getting retested. As with any lab test, there is a very small chance that this test can give a result that is a false positive or false negative result. Your healthcare provider will work with you to determine the best testing plan for you based on the test results, medical history, and your symptoms.

In the event that your HIV test results are positive or abnormal, an associate from our independent physician network will contact you directly to discuss your particular case, as well as provide information on how to take the next steps to seek confirmatory testing.

As is the case with all HIV testing—whether through Everlywell or through your healthcare provider—we are required by law to report positive test results to state health departments. These reports of infection are confidential and used by state health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a means of disease surveillance to inform disease prevention activities. It’s important to keep in mind that a positive result on this test is not a diagnosis of HIV–only a healthcare provider, after reviewing results and medical history, can make that determination.

HIV antibody-based tests check a sample of blood or saliva for the presence of antibodies that your body has made in response to HIV. Antibodies work by attaching themselves to invading viruses and microbes, marking them for destruction by the immune system's defender cells.

1. ELISA tests

The Everlywell at-home HIV test uses the ELISA technique and is a fourth-generation antibody/antigen test. Fourth-generation tests are extremely sensitive (the percentage of results that are correctly positive when HIV is actually present) and specific (the percentage of results that are correctly negative when HIV is not present).

However, it is important to take into account the “window period” (the time between when a person may have been exposed to HIV and when a test can detect the virus). A 4th generation test using blood collected from venipuncture can usually detect HIV infection 18 to 45 days after an exposure. Fourth generation tests done with blood from a finger prick can take longer to detect HIV, 18 to 90 days after an exposure.

2. Rapid HIV tests (HIV self-test)

Another kind of antibody-based test is the rapid HIV test, also known as an HIV self-test. Rapid tests can give results in just 15–30 minutes. But there’s a downside to rapid testing methods: they’re less sensitive than other types of tests, which means rapid HIV testing is more likely to generate false negatives.

You can use the Everlywell at-home HIV lab test to screen for HIV from the privacy of your home. Here’s how it works:

• Order the HIV Test (simply click the “Add to Cart" button and complete checkout). The kit will then be shipped to your address (in discreet shipping packaging).

• Register your kit online using the unique ID, then follow the instructions in the kit to collect your sample. (This test requires a few drops of blood from your fingertip.)

• Place your sample in the biohazard bag, pack it into the box, place the box in the shipping bag that’s included with the kit, and apply the prepaid shipping label (also included within the kit). This allows you to easily ship your sample to the lab for testing.

• After the lab analyzes your sample, you’ll be notified that your test results are ready—and you’ll be able to view your results on our secure, online platform.

If your HIV test results do come back positive or abnormal, you’ll have the opportunity to connect with a representative from an independent physician network to discuss your case, but we also recommend sharing your results with your healthcare provider as soon as possible to learn the next steps for treatment. Your healthcare provider may give you HIV treatment (called antiretroviral therapy or ART). Studies show benefits when people start ART sooner rather than later after they are diagnosed with HIV. By working with your healthcare provider to manage your HIV, it is possible to remain healthy for many years.

The Everlywell HIV Test is more than 99% accurate for HIV screening when used within the proper screening window. However, a positive result should be followed up with additional testing by your healthcare provider to confirm the positive result.

This is not a rapid HIV test or take-home HIV test. Instead, our at-home collection kit comes with the materials you need to collect a small sample of blood at home (via a simple finger prick), and send that sample to a lab for testing.

• HIV/AIDS Overview

• HIV U.S. Statistics

• CDC: HIV Testing

• Bloodborne Infectious Diseases

• CDC: Living With HIV

• CDC: How can I prevent getting HIV from sex?