Walk in, get a mouth swab, wait 30 minutes, know your HIV status.
That is the concept behind Campus Health Service's new HIV Quick Test, which allows patients to get tested for the virus that causes AIDS — and get results in just half an hour.
"[The test] has been overwhelmingly popular," said Mary Digan, the manager of Campus Health's laboratory.
Digan said about 40 people have been getting tested per week since Campus Health began offering the rapid test at the beginning of the semester.
"It gives [students] peace of mind," Campus Health Service's Director Dr. Allan Markus said. "They can walk out and know what the answer is right away."
The new test enables students to be clear about their statuses when they enter into a new relationship or go away for spring break, for example, Markus added.
In the past, HIV tests would be sent off to a reference lab and results would come back after a minimum of two to three days, Digan said.
And waiting for the results often caused students much anxiety, Markus added.
"If we couldn't reach them, they'd be thinking all the worst things," he said.
Anthropology freshman Eliza Fishbein said she liked the idea of a rapid test.
"I think the hardest part about getting tested is having to wait for it," Fishbein said. "Thirty minutes — that's nothing."
In the United States, nearly 1 million people have been infected with AIDS through 2005, according to the Centers for Disease Control. There were more than 40,000 new infections that year — the latest for which the agency has published data.
The CDC recommend HIV testing for individuals who have unprotected sex, share needles, have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease and for women who are pregnant. The centers support rapid tests such as the one now offered by Campus Health.
"With an estimated one out of four HIV-positive Americans unaware of their infection, increased opportunities for testing are critical," according to the CDC Web site.
The test offered by Campus Health is 99 percent accurate and can be done with a mouth swab or a blood sample, Markus said. Usually patients prefer the mouth swab, he added.
"If a result is positive, then we'd draw some blood and send it off for a confirmatory test," Markus said. "[But] it's actually very rare that we get new positive results."
The test costs $30 for a self-pay, which students can charge to their student accounts Markus said.
Alternatively, Campus Health can bill a student's insurance.
But even if Campus Health bills a patient's insurance, the company never learns of the outcome of an HIV test, Markus added.
If students have specific concerns or certain symptoms that could suggest they have a sexually transmitted disease, he said they should get tested for both HIV and STDs — and all sexually active women should get tested for chlamydia at least once.
Campus Health does not offer STD testing on a walk-in basis. But patients who make an appointment will still get results before they leave the Health Center, even though it may take longer than 30 minutes, Markus said.
Campus Health will offer the HIV Quick Test for free in front of the Campus Health Center on Feb. 11 as part of the HIV Body Positive project, Markus said.
But Markus said he wants students to know they now have the opportunity to get rapid testing year-round.
"If they can't make it here on that day, we're here for them," Markus said.
Reach the reporter at andre.f.radzischewski@asu.edu.
