Grab our RSS Feed

Rapid HIV Testing Returns to GC December 3rd

by Collette Sosnowy


The Grad­u­ate Cen­ter is an HIV-saavy com­mu­nity, which is evi­denced by the sig­nif­i­cant turnout to the recent con­fi­den­tial Rapid-HIV test­ing event spon­sored by the Well­ness Center-Student Health Ser­vices on Novem­ber 11. In fact, there proved to be such a need for the ser­vice, the Out­reach Team from Ryan-NENA Com­mu­nity Health Cen­ter will be return­ing on Thurs­day, Decem­ber 3, from 10:00 – 12:00 and 2:00 – 4:00 on the con­course level! In addi­tion, the Well­ness Center-Student Health Ser­vices will be tabling infor­ma­tion on HIV/AIDS and World AIDS Day in the lobby.

The fact that there is so much activ­ity and edu­ca­tion around HIV speaks to the need for con­tin­ued efforts to stem trans­mis­sion of the dis­ease. Accord­ing to the CDC, many per­sons with HIV do not get tested until late in their infec­tion. In the United States, approx­i­mately 40 per­cent to 50 per­cent of patients with HIV infec­tion are diag­nosed with AIDS within one year of testing.

Another chal­lenge to pre­ven­tion efforts is that many per­sons who are tested do not return to learn their test results. Using the tra­di­tional test, it may take sev­eral weeks to get results back, war­rant­ing a sec­ond appoint­ment. The CDC esti­mated that in 2000, 31 per­cent of patients who tested pos­i­tive at public-sector test­ing sites did not return to receive their results

Rapid-HIV test­ing both reduces wait time to one visit and expands the test­ing sites to non-clinical set­tings. A rapid test uses a quick fin­ger stick test that pro­duces results in about twenty min­utes. Allow­ing time for con­fi­den­tial paper­work and edu­ca­tion, the appoint­ment takes less than an hour. The Ryan-NENA staff pro­vides com­pre­hen­sive, con­fi­den­tial coun­sel­ing and will con­nect you quickly to med­ical ser­vices if needed.

One test counts the num­ber of T-cells in the immune sys­tem. T-cells are white blood cells that help the body fight infec­tions. HIV destroys these cells. A per­son with HIV usu­ally has a high num­ber of T-cells early on. Over time, that num­ber begins to drop. Another test checks how much HIV is in the blood. This is called “viral load test­ing.” The num­ber of T-cells and the HIV viral load deter­mine what kind of treat­ment a per­son should have, and show whether or not the treat­ment is work­ing once it is started.

There are other test­ing options. State and local health depart­ments, HIV/AIDS orga­ni­za­tions or pri­vate doc­tors can give the test. The nurse prac­ti­tioner at the Well­ness Center-Student Health Ser­vices can give the test. It has to be sent out for results and requires a follow-up visit, but may be a more con­ve­nient option for Grad­u­ate Cen­ter stu­dents. There is a lab fee of about $12 that will be billed to the stu­dent by the lab.

No mat­ter the method, all HIV tests are con­fi­den­tial. Your result is told only to you, but it is also put in your med­ical file, which your health care provider has access to. Some areas offer anony­mous test­ing. This means you don’t give your name and the result will only be reported to you. Home test­ing kits are avail­able from phar­ma­cies. You mail a blood sam­ple along with a code name or num­ber and receive results over the phone.

Know­ing your HIV-status is crit­i­cal to get­ting early treat­ment if your sta­tus is pos­i­tive. While there is no cure for HIV, treat­ments can be started when the per­son is healthy. The most com­mon treat­ments limit the abil­ity of the virus to repro­duce. They help pro­tect the immune sys­tem and improve chances of stay­ing healthy. Other treat­ments may slow the spread of HIV, make the immune sys­tem stronger and treat oppor­tunis­tic infec­tions. Cer­tain med­i­cines can be taken by HIV-positive preg­nant women to sig­nif­i­cantly reduce the risk of pass­ing it on to their baby. Since it takes time for HIV to show up in the blood sys­tem after it has been con­tracted, it’s best to get tested regularly.

Impor­tant Information

The Ryan-NENA Out­reach team will return to the Grad­u­ate Cen­ter for con­fi­den­tial Rapid-HIV test­ing on Thurs­day, Decem­ber 3 from 10:00 – 12:00 and 2:00 – 4:00 in the con­course level (C204-C205).

The last patients from the 10 – 12 slot will be seen at 12 and the last patients from the 2:00 – 4:00 slot will be seen at 4:00. Please allow time for a short wait, paper­work, test­ing and ques­tions and answers, about forty min­utes to an hour. If you have any ques­tions, call the Well­ness Cen­ter at 212 – 817-7020.

If you are not able to make the onsite test­ing at the Grad­u­ate Cen­ter on Decem­ber 3, the Ryan-NENA Com­mu­nity Health Cen­ter offers full HIV ser­vices, includ­ing rapid test­ing at their site, located in the Lower East Side.

For infor­ma­tion, or appoint­ment call:

Ryan/Chelsea Clin­ton: (212) 265‑4500

Ryan-NENA: Assis­tant Coor­di­na­tor of Pre­ven­tion, Edu­ca­tion Out­reach (212) 477‑8500

Ryan Cen­ter: Coord. of Coun­sel­ing & Test­ing (212) 749‑1820

Related Ways to Take Action: Pow­ered by Social Actions
Posted by Collette Sosnowy on Nov 27th, 2009 and filed under Health Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response by filling following comment form or trackback to this entry from your site

You must be logged in to post a comment Login