Discreetly test for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

HIV can infect anyone regardless of age, race, or sexual orientation, so it's important to get tested at least once in your lifetime (the CDC recommends more frequent screening tests for people at a greater risk of getting an HIV infection). If you suspect that you may have been exposed to HIV, the Everlywell HIV Test is a convenient way to check.

On average, nearly 40,000 individuals are diagnosed annually in the USA with HIV. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that just over 1 million people are living with HIV in the United States, but up to 13% don't know they're infected.

With the Everlywell HIV home test, you can easily undergo HIV screening from the convenience of home (you collect your sample at home and then send it in to a lab for testing).

Who is at increased risk for becoming infected with HIV?

People who engage in behaviors such as having unprotected (without condom or other barrier usage) vaginal or anal sex, people who have another sexually transmitted infection, people with multiple sexual partners, people who use or share intravenous needles to inject drugs, or people who have sexual contact with a known HIV-positive partner are the most at risk for HIV transmission. Additionally, pregnant people infected with HIV can pass the virus to their children during pregnancy.

By screening for exposure to HIV with our HIV test, you can learn your HIV status, which can help you pursue confirmatory testing, and then seek HIV treatment as soon as possible (if necessary), which also lowers your risk of infecting others. Our HIV antigen/antibody test is simple and discreet, making this test a convenient option to check your exposure status.

A few weeks after being infected with HIV, you may develop flu-like symptoms such as:

• Fever
• Headache
• Sore throat
• Swollen lymph nodes (small glands in your neck)
• Rash
• Tiredness

These symptoms usually disappear within a week to a month. You may have no other symptoms for many years.

If left untreated, HIV will continue to affect your immune system and can progress to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Symptoms of AIDS include:

• Extreme, unexplained tiredness
• Rapid weight loss
• Soaking night sweats
• Prolonged shaking chills or fever
• Prolonged swelling of lymph nodes (small glands in your neck)
• Chronic diarrhea
• Persistent headaches
• Unusual infections

• Are sexually active and between the ages of 18 and 65
• Are a man who has sex with men
• Have new or multiple sex partners
• Have had unprotected sex with someone at high-risk of HIV
• Share or have shared injection drugs needles
• Have symptoms of an STI
• Are concerned you’ve been exposed to an STI
• Have had another STI since your last test
• Have hepatitis or tuberculosis (TB)

Per the CDC’s guidelines, everyone between the ages of 15 and 65 should be screened at least once for HIV.

The HIV antibody/antigen test checks whether or not you have been exposed to HIV.

This HIV test checks a sample of your blood for antibodies against HIV. Tests that only measure antibodies can take 23-90 days to detect an HIV infection after an exposure. This HIV test can usually detect an HIV infection in 18-90 days after exposure because it also checks for HIV p24 antigens (viral proteins) in the blood. Tests that are both an HIV antigen test and also an HIV antibody test are often referred to as 4th generation HIV tests.

If you're having symptoms, it could mean that you have another infection or condition. Talk to your healthcare provider about what’s right for you. If you think you may have been exposed to HIV, it may be too soon to tell if you have it. Talk to your healthcare provider about getting retested. As with any lab test, there is a very small chance that this test can give a result that is a false positive or false negative result. Your healthcare provider will work with you to determine the best testing plan for you based on the test results, medical history, and your symptoms.

In the event that your HIV test results are abnormal, an associate from our physician network will contact you directly to discuss your particular case, as well as provide information on how to take the next steps to seek confirmatory testing. We take customer privacy very seriously and will never share your information with a third-party with the exception of the lab we use to test your sample and our physician network.

Will my results be shared with my state health department?

As is the case with all HIV testing—whether through Everlywell or through your healthcare provider—we are required by law to report positive test results to state health departments. These reports of infection are confidential and used by state health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a means of disease surveillance to inform disease prevention activities.

HIV Antibody Tests

HIV antibody-based tests check a sample of blood or saliva for the presence of antibodies that your body has made in response to HIV. Antibodies work by attaching themselves to invading viruses and microbes, marking them for destruction by the immune system's defender cells.

1. ELISA tests

The Everlywell at-home HIV test uses the ELISA technique and is a fourth-generation antibody/antigen test. Fourth-generation tests are extremely sensitive (the percentage of results that are correctly positive when HIV is actually present) and specific (the percentage of results that are correctly negative when HIV is not present).

However, it is important to take into account the “window period” (the time between when a person may have been exposed to HIV and when a test can detect the virus). A 4th generation test using blood collected from venipuncture can usually detect HIV infection 18 to 45 days after an exposure. Fourth generation tests done with blood from a finger prick can take longer to detect HIV, 18 to 90 days after an exposure.

2. Rapid HIV tests (HIV self-test)

Another kind of antibody-based test is the rapid HIV test, also known as an HIV self-test. Rapid tests can give results in just 15–30 minutes. But there’s a downside to rapid testing methods: they’re less sensitive than other types of tests, which means rapid HIV testing is more likely to generate false negatives.

How does HIV testing at home work?

You can use the EverlyWell at-home HIV test to screen for HIV from the privacy of your home. Here’s how it works:

(1) Order the at-home HIV test (simply click the “Order” button you see on your screen). The kit will then be shipped to your address (in discreet shipping packaging).

(2) Register your kit online using the unique ID, then follow the instructions in the kit to collect your sample. (This test requires a few drops of blood from your fingertip.)

(3) Place your sample in the biohazard bag, pack it into the box, place the box in the shipping bag that’s included with the kit, and apply the prepaid shipping label (also included within the kit). This allows you to easily ship your sample to the lab for testing.

(4) After the lab analyzes your sample, you’ll be notified that your test results are ready—and you’ll be able to view your results on our secure, online platform.

If your HIV test results do come back positive, share your results with your healthcare provider as soon as possible to learn the next steps for treatment. Your healthcare provider may give you HIV treatment (called antiretroviral therapy or ART). Studies show benefits when people start ART sooner rather than later after they are diagnosed with HIV. By working with your healthcare provider to manage your HIV, it is possible to remain healthy for many years.

At-home HIV test accuracy: how accurate are home HIV test kits?

The EverlyWell test is more than 99% accurate for HIV screening. However, a positive result should be followed up with additional testing by your healthcare provider to confirm the positive result.

Is this a take-home HIV test?

This is not a rapid HIV test or take-home HIV test. Instead, our at-home collection kit comes with the materials you need to collect a small sample of blood at home (via a simple finger prick), and send that sample to a lab for testing.

• HIV/AIDS Overview
• HIV U.S. Statistics
• CDC: HIV Testing
• Bloodborne Infectious Diseases
• CDC: Living With HIV
• CDC: How can I prevent getting HIV from sex?