The University Health System became the first Central Virginia hospital to offer an improved blood test which produces HIV results more quickly than the older test last Friday.
"The test can be performed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and test results are generally available within 30 minutes," pathologist Kevin Hazen said in a statement released by the health system.
The main difference between the new test and the old one is that the new test looks for a protein which is unique to HIV, as well as for antibodies which the body produces to fight the virus, according to the release. Old tests were only capable of looking for the antibodies, significantly limiting the capacity to diagnose the illness in adequate time. Antibodies to HIV are not made immediately and sometimes can take up to three months to develop - "the window period" - and therefore a negative test does not necessarily mean one is not infected, according to the statement. For accuracy purposes, it is necessary to be retested after three or more months after exposure to the disease.
One main benefit of searching for the protein rather than the antibodies is efficiency. The protein can show up one to two weeks earlier - once the disease is contracted - in comparison to the four to six weeks it takes the antibodies to appear, the statement confirmed.
Infectious disease specialist Greg Townsend said in the release that a quick diagnosis is important because patients are more likely to spread HIV immediately after contraction.
"[Patients] have the highest amount of virus in their blood [after contraction] but no symptoms," Townsend said. "If patients are diagnosed sooner, they can begin treatment sooner and begin taking precautions."
Apart from enabling diagnosed HIV patients to begin treatment sooner, "the test also provides a faster peace of mind for patients who don't have the virus," Townsend added. "With the new test, they can feel a lot more confident that it's negative"
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