Everyone has an idea of HIV from school. There was a time when people were afraid of the infected, but now all this is in the past. The media took a big step towards meeting HIV-infected people. People stopped being afraid of them and began to perceive them differently. However, the risk of infection is high enough, and not always a person can find out about the infection, since it has a sufficiently long incubation period.
To determine the pathology, an HIV test is given, a transcript will show whether the patient has an infection or not.
Development reasons
You can get an infection in different ways. Most often this happens during a blood transfusion, with promiscuous sexual contacts. No less high risk of infection through syringes, medical instruments.
Deciphering HIV tests allows you to assess your health and monitor the process. The human immunodeficiency virus is difficult to detect immediately after infection. Usually the disease proceeds without the manifestation of any symptoms. As a result, this situation can lead to serious consequences, including death. To prevent this, it is necessary to take biomaterial for HIV at least twice a year.
Testing
Deciphering the HIV test allows you to confirm or deny the pathology. The examination is carried out by detecting antibodies in the blood, saliva or other fluid. They are produced by the body in response to a virus infection.
To identify the microorganism, laboratory tests are carried out. Moreover, even the usual indicators of tests can change during infection. The following changes may be observed:
- leukopenia;
- anemia;
- thrombocytopenia.
If a patient suddenly has progressive changes in blood tests, it is necessary to donate blood for HIV. There are several types of infection tests: ELISA and PCR.
IFA
The HIV breakdown is as follows: human immunodeficiency virus. This pathology has several stages of development and a long incubation period.
In the early stages, in the interval from one and a half to three months from the date of contact with an infected person, an ELISA is performed.
A laboratory ELISA test can determine the presence of HIV infection in the body. Decryption provides information about the presence of antibodies to the virus. Among them, the most important are immunoglobulins, which exist in the form of immunocomplexes.
Blood sampling for diagnosis occurs from the ulnar vein. Do not eat before the procedure. It is also necessary to notify the doctor about taking medications, as some substances can affect the diagnostic results.
During the examination, the response to immunoglobulins IgM, IgG, IgA is evaluated. If the transcript of a blood test for HIV shows negative values of the substances, then they say that there is no disease. Also, the lack of response of immunoglobulins can indicate a complete recovery.
If the IgG protein is determined in decoding the HIV results, then they speak of the formed immunity in a person after vaccination.
The detected IgM protein indicates an acute course of an infectious disease.
If three positive proteins are detected during the decoding of HIV blood, namely IgM, IgG, IgA, then they speak of a relapse in the acute phase.
During ELISA, if a negative IgM immunoglobulin value is detected, and the reaction of IgG and IgA is positive, this indicates a positive analysis. With such data, the infection is in remission.
PCR
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the most accurate diagnostic method. To determine HIV using this method, blood is taken from a vein. Material is given by patients in the morning on an empty stomach from the cubital vein.
During the examination, traces of hostile microorganisms in human DNA are determined. If there are none, then it is believed that the person is healthy. Otherwise, it is believed that the patient has a positive reaction and he is sick.
Often, PCR gives positive results even before the clinical manifestations of pathology. This is not a laboratory error, but an early stage of development, in which there are no symptoms yet, but the virus already exists in the body.
Peculiarities of PCR allow diagnosis in the early stages after contact with the patient: two weeks after the alleged infection, patients can be tested for PCR and get reliable results.
Conclusion
ELISA and PCR accurately determine the presence of human immunodeficiency virus in the blood. The first type of diagnosis makes it possible to identify the problem after several months from the moment of contact with the patient. For earlier detection of the disease, PCR is performed. Deciphering the HIV of this method gives more informative results in the early stages.
In some cases, test results give false positive results. The likelihood of such a diagnosis is approximately one percent. Such results can be obtained if the patient does not comply with the preparation for taking tests, taking certain medications.