HIV Testing Hours

HIV testing is available at our Pottsville office every Wednesday from 3pm-6pm. No appointment is necessary, patients are seen on a first come/first serve basis.

Basics About

The HIV test is an antibody test. This means that the test is looking for your immune system’s response to the presence of the HIV virus. It takes time for a person’s immune system to develop a measurable antibody response to infection. This period of time varies from individual to individual, but may be as long as three months.

For this reason, the three month period of time immediately following a risk behavior is commonly referred to as “the window period.” An HIV test taken during this “window” may result in a false negative. A false negative test is one that indicates someone is not infected with HIV when, in reality, they are infected. And, because they are infected, they are able to infect others.

If more than three months have passed since your last risk behavior, an HIV test will give you accurate information about your HIV status. If you are not infected with the HIV virus, your test result will be non-reactive by EIA. This test result is commonly referred to as HIV negative. If you are infected with the HIV virus, your test result will be repeatedly reactive by EIA and reactive by Western Blot. This test result is commonly referred to as HIV positive.

EIA is an abbreviation for Enzyme Immunoassay. This is a common screening test used to detect antibodies to an infection. In the case of an HIV test, the EIA is specifically looking for antibodies to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. When the EIA is non-reactive, or negative, no further testing of a lab specimen is warranted.

The Western Blot test is a confirmatory antibody test. It is used to confirm the results of a repeatedly reactive EIA test.

The HIV test is highly (greater than 99%) accurate as long as the individual being tested is not in the window period.

Questions?

For further information about our HIV testing services, contact our Prevention Specialist, Michelle Rossi at (570)633-3980, extension 202 or mrossi@cocountywellnessservices.org.

 

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All services are confidential and provided free of charge.