AIDS - Food and Drug Administration Approves Rapid Oral Test for AIDS

Chapter 15: In the News

AIDS - Food and Drug Administration Approves Rapid Oral Test for AIDS

Health officials announced the FDA approved the first rapid oral test for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). According to studies, the test, which is made by OraSure Technologies Inc., provides results within 20 minutes with 99% accuracy. Those who test positive will need another laboratory test to confirm HIV infection. Until recently the only other approved rapid HIV test, also from OraSure, required blood samples.

With this new test, health care workers simply wipe a treated cotton swab along the gums of the person being tested and then stick the swab into a special testing device for on the spot results. Infection is signaled by the appearance of reddish-purple lines in a window on the device. The new test also reduces the chances of health care workers being exposed to the HIV virus through accidental needle pricks.

“This oral test provides another important option for people who might be afraid of a blood test,” said Tommy Thompson, the Health and Human Secretary, in announcing the FDA’s approval.

Up to now routine HIV tests usually took two weeks to provide results. At least 8,000 people a year who tested positive at public clinics never returned to get the news. Where the rapid test is available, those tested get their results within minutes while still at the clinic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that one-fourth of the approximately 900,000 HIV-infected people in the United States are not aware that they are infected. An estimated 40 million people in the world are currently living with HIV. New medication in the United States and other western countries has reduced the number of deaths from the virus. AIDS remains the top killer in Africa and health officials warn it could infect more than 10 million people in China over the next decade if not aggressively confronted.

Source: MSNBC. FDA approves rapid oral AIDS rest.Retrieved from

Oral test for AIDS virus approved by the FDA. Associated Press -Washington, D.C. Retrieved from