Ways to test for HIV

Three different ways to see if you have HIV

May 2007     View PDF     En español

Why not use more sensitive tests?

Other types of HIV tests are available, called HIV RNA tests. Rather than looking for antibodies, these tests look for the actual virus. Several tests are available, including Amplicor, bDNA and NASBA. These are routinely used to monitor people with HIV infection, find out their risk of disease progression and monitor the effect of anti-HIV therapy.

These tests are not routinely used to check for HIV infection. First, they cost a lot more than antibody tests. Second, a number of problems occur when using them to screen for the presence of HIV. The major problem is that they have a significant false positive rate. That means the test sometimes suggests that someone is infected when in fact they are not. Using these tests to screen for HIV has caused people emotional unrest. As well, antibody tests are more than 99.9% accurate.