WASHINGTON — Americans will soon be able to test themselves in the privacy of their own homes for the virus that causes AIDS, now that the Food and Drug Administration has approved the first rapid, over-the-counter HIV test.
The OraQuick test detects the presence of HIV antibodies using a mouth swab and returns a result in 20 to 40 minutes.
Government officials estimate that about 240,000 people, or one-fifth of the roughly 1.2 million people carrying HIV in the U.S., don’t know they are infected. Testing is a chief means of slowing new infections, which have held steady at about 50,000 per year for two decades.
“The availability of a home-use HIV test kit provides another option for individuals to get tested so that they can seek medical care, if appropriate,” said Dr. Karen Midthun, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
Orasure plans to start selling the test in October, both online and through retailers like Walgreens, CVS and Walmart. It expects the consumer version to cost less than $60 but more than the one marketed to health professionals, which costs about $17.50.
FDA stressed in its approval announcement that the test is not 100 percent accurate in identifying people with the virus. A trial conducted by test maker Orasure showed OraQuick detected HIV in those carrying the virus only 92 percent of the time, though it was 99.9 percent accurate in ruling out HIV in patients not carrying the virus.
