Getting tested is the only way to know your HIV status. If you are HIV-positive, you can start getting treated, which can improve your health, prolong your life, and greatly lower your chance of spreading HIV to others.
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There are many ways to get tested for COVID-19 in Wisconsin. First contact your doctor to ask if your primary health care clinic provides testing. If testing is not available, find a free community testing site near you. Check with the location for hours and when appointments are available.
See the basic information about COVID-19 testing, including when to get tested, how to get a test, and what happens during and after a test. COVID-19 self-tests are also available and can be purchased at pharmacies or ordered online for free at SayYesCovidHomeTest.gov.
If there is no option to automatically report your self-test result, please report results (positive or negative) to the Health Department using our online form. Your response is confidential, and reporting your test result helps the Health Department understand how many Vermonters are being tested for COVID-19 and how the virus is spreading in our communities.
To protect yourself and others, stay up to date on vaccines, stay home when sick, get tested when needed, consider when to wear a mask, and take considerations for people with medical certain conditions.
You should get tested if you develop any symptoms of COVID-19, even if they are mild, or if you are a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. DPH advises that rapid antigen tests are an acceptable alternative to PCR testing in most scenarios.
Find a free or low-cost testing site, clinic or lab in King County. You will be asked to provide your ID and insurance card (if you have insurance), but it is not required to be tested.
If you are at high risk for being hospitalized for COVID, it is important to getting tested soon and treated early. Oral antiviral pills or other treatment options may lower the chances of your illness getting worse if taken within 5 days of symptoms. There is no cost for treatment regardless of insurance or immigration status.
Getting the answers to these questions can be tricky. Rest assured, the information in this section can help you determine if you are indeed showing signs of dementia, whether you need to see your doctor about your concerns, and what to expect should your doctor recommend that you get tested.
Chagas is a serious disease caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. The agent is endemic in Latin America, but approximately 20 reports of transmission by blood transfusion have been published worldwide. The Red Cross blood donations are screened using the Ortho T. cruzi Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for the qualitative detection of antibodies to T. cruzi in human serum or plasma samples. An FDA licensed enzyme strip immunoassay (ESA) is used for confirmatory testing. The FDA has approved a T. cruzi reentry algorithm requiring a follow-up sample testing nonreactive by the two FDA licensed screening tests and the ESA. Although T. cruzi can be transmitted by blood transfusion, to date, the Red Cross has not identified any recipients infected by blood components from screen-negative donors or screened-negative donors who subsequently tested positive (seroconverted). All reports of transfusion transmission have been from unscreened platelets, except from one red cell case, or from whole blood from unscreened donors in Latin America. Because T. cruzi is not endemic in the United States, the Red Cross (and all US blood centers) donors are tested only once. The frequency of detecting a positive donor is about 1 per 15,000 first-time donations screened.
HBV DNA and HBsAg are the first viral markers to circulate in an individual infected with HBV. Anti-HBc appears in the blood of individuals infected with HBV one to four weeks after the appearance of HBsAg, and at the onset of symptoms for those adults who develop symptoms (5% or less). The tests used for blood donor screening are the GS HBsAg EIA 3.0, a qualitative ELISA for the detection of Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg), and the Ortho HBc ELISA for the qualitative detection of antibody to HBV core antigen (anti-HBc) in human serum and plasma samples. An FDA licensed triplex nucleic acid test (NAT) using transcription-mediated amplification was introduced by the Red Cross in 2009. The assay detects HBV DNA, HIV-1 RNA, and HCV RNA. Testing is performed in mini-pools (MP) of 16 samples; components of reactive MP are tested individually to identify the reactive donations, followed by virus-specific testing to determine the virus responsible for the sample's reactivity. Specific antigen neutralization is used for HBsAg reactive confirmation; HBsAg-reactive samples that are HBV DNA reactive do not require further testing by neutralization. If neutralization testing is positive and MP-NAT is nonreactive, or the donation sample is anti-HBc reactive and HBsAg and MP-NAT are nonreactive, further testing is performed by HBV individual donation NAT. False-positive donors for any HBV marker may be reentered. The per-unit risk of HBV infection through blood transfusion is less than 1 per million units screened. NAT has reduced the window-period from HBV infection to detection by about 12 days. This leaves an approximate period of 2 to 3 weeks when an infected donor may not be detected by blood donation screening. The frequency of detecting an active HBV infection in a blood donor is about 1 per 12,000 donations screened.
HCV is the causative agent for most, if not all, blood-borne non-A, non-B hepatitis. The test used for blood donor screening is the Ortho HCV ELISA for the qualitative detection of antibody to HCV antibodies (anti-HCV) in human serum or plasma samples. A duplex nucleic acid test (NAT) was introduced for HIV-1/HCV RNA detection in 1999 and updated to include the detection of HBV DNA in 2009 (see above). Donors who test HCV-antibody reactive, but NAT nonreactive by routine testing are further tested individually for HCV RNA by NAT. If nonreactive on the specific individual HCV NAT assay, the sample is further tested by another FDA licensed HCV-antibody screening test to determine if the antibody reactivity is specific. Donors who test anti-HCV and HCV NAT reactive do not require further testing. False-positive donors by either antibody or HCV NAT may be reentered. The per-unit risk of HCV infection through blood transfusion is less than 1 per 2 million units screened. NAT closes the window period between infection and the detection of antibody for those infected with HCV by about 50 to 60 days. This leaves an approximate period of about 1 week when an infected donor may not be detected by blood donation screening. The frequency of detecting a positive donor is about 1 per 5,000 donations screened.
Blood donation screening for HIV-1, the causative agent of AIDS began with antibody testing in 1985. Many improvements in testing have occurred, including the detection of a second HIV agent (HIV-2 in 1992). The test used for blood donor screening is the GS HIV-1/HIV-2 PLUS O EIA for the simultaneous qualitative detection of anti-HIV 1 (groups M and O) and/or HIV-2 in human serum or plasma. A duplex nucleic acid test (NAT) was introduced for HIV-1/HCV RNA detection in 1999 and updated to include the detection of HBV DNA in 2009 (see above). The next version of NAT will include HIV-2 RNA detection (to be implemented in 2020). Donors who test antibody reactive are further evaluated by additional tests to confirm the presence of HIV antibody and to differentiate HIV-1 from HIV-2 antibodies. Such tests have included an HIV western blot, an HIV-2 enzyme-linked immunoassay, and an HIV-1 and HIV-2 rapid test for viral differentiation (all FDA licensed). Donors who test anti-HIV-1/HIV-2 and HIV-1 NAT reactive are not further tested. Currently only a rapid test is performed on HIV-1/HIV-2 antibody reactive donations that test NAT negative to confirm antibody reactivity and differentiate HIV-1 from HIV-2 antibodies. Donors testing falsely positive by either antibody or HIV NAT may be reentered. The per-unit risk of HIV-1 infection through blood transfusion is less than 1 per 2 million units screened. NAT closes the window period between infection and antibody detection for those infected with HIV by about 2 weeks. This leaves an approximate period of 7 to 10 days when an infected donor may not be detected by blood donation screening. The frequency of detecting HIV-1 in a blood donor is about 1 per 33,000 donations screened. However, detecting HIV-2 in a blood donor is extremely rare at 1 per 57 million donations, with only 5 such infected donors ever identified since HIV-2 screening began in 1992.
HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 are human retroviruses. While HTLV-1 has been associated with neoplastic conditions and various demyelinating disorders, HTLV-2 is not yet proven unequivocally to be of significant clinical concern. The test used for blood donor screening is the Avioq HTLV-1/2 Microelisa system for the qualitative detection of antibodies to HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 in human serum or plasma samples. Donors who test reactive for anti-HTLV-1/2 are further tested using an FDA licensed western blot to determine if antibodies are present. The western blot confirms infection and differentiates between HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 (with HTLV-2 slightly more common than HTLV-1). There are no nucleic acid tests (NAT) available for HTLV-1/2. False-positive donors by antibody may be reentered, except those that were confirmed positive by various tests used before the availability of an FDA licensed western blot. The per-unit risk of transfusion-transmitted HTLV-1/2 is less than 1 per 2 million units screened, and the frequency of detecting an infected donor is 1 per 27,000 donations screened.
ZIKV, a flavivirus, closely related to dengue viruses, resulted in a pandemic during 2016-2017. ZIKV usually causes mild symptoms such as: fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, or headache. More severe neurological complications have been documented, such as Guillain-Barré syndrome and microcephaly or other congenital brain abnormalities in the developing fetus of an infected pregnant female. ZIKV was first identified in rhesus monkeys in the Zika forest of Uganda in 1947. More recently, it expanded across the South Pacific islands into South America, Central America and the Caribbean. The virus is most commonly transmitted to humans through mosquito bites; but may also be transmitted by sexual contact, laboratory acquisition or blood transfusion. ZIKV nucleic acids (RNA) are detected using a nucleic acid test (NAT) similar to that of West Nile virus (see below). Investigational NAT in mini-pools of 16 was introduced in June 2016 in 5 southeastern states, but as required by FDA, expanded to all US donations (first as individual donations and by January 2019 in mini-pools using an FDA licensed assay). NAT-reactive donations were further tested by repeat NAT and antibody testing to confirm infection. During the peak of the outbreak in 2016-2017, a rate of 1 per 950,000 was obtained (all positives with naturally occurring infection had their exposure outside of the US or in Florida); our last confirmed-positive donation was in March 2018 (exposure in Cuba). No suspect transfusion-transmission investigations were reported during the period when ZIKV NAT was performed. Donors testing ZIKV NAT-reactive were eligible to donate again after 120 days of their ZIKV-reactive result. In May 2021 the FDA approved the discontinuation of ZIKV NAT for all routine blood donor donations. The Red Cross will discontinue ZIKV NAT in June 2021 for donations from routine blood donors. 2ff7e9595c
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