Service Description

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infects the cells of a person’s immune system and is the cause of AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). When a person becomes infected with HIV, through exposure to the blood or body fluids of an infected individual, the virus begins to reproduce very rapidly. So, during the first few weeks of infection, the amount of virus (viral load) in the blood can be quite high. The immune system responds by producing antibodies directed against the virus and these begin to be detected in the blood around 3-4 weeks after exposure to the virus. As the level of HIV antibody increases, the viral load in the blood decreases. This early HIV infection may cause no symptoms or sometimes a flu-like or glandular fever-type illness. The only way to determine whether a person has been infected is through HIV testing. Modern HIV screening tests detect HIV antigens (parts of the virus itself, usually a protein called the p24 antigen) and/or antibodies produced in response to an HIV infection.