Testing basics

HIV testing is available for FREE at community health clinics, sexual health clinics and from your family doctor. Family planning centers or drug treatment facilities also offer testing. See also the list of testing sites in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland.

HIV is detectable by a blood test. The test tells you if you are infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) by looking for antibodies. HIV antibodies are your immune systems response to HIV in your blood. Antibodies are proteins produced by the immune system to fight a specific germ.

HIV is detectable by a blood test. Newer tests can detect HIV antibodies in mouth fluid (not the same as saliva), urine, or from a scraping sample taken from inside the cheek. "Rapid" HIV test results are available within ten to thirty minutes after a sample is taken. One of these tests has produced a high rate of false positives. A positive result on any HIV test should be confirmed with a second test.

Antibody test results for HIV are accurate more than 99.5% of the time. Once blood has been taken, an Elisa test is used to test for HIV antibodies. A positive test result is then confirmed with a Western blot test.
 
Two special cases have been known to give false results:

The result from an HIV test can either be positive or negative.