Anonymous antibody testing services are those which no name is give. Only the person getting tested can reveal his/her results to anyone. Confidential antibody testing services record the person's name with the test result. Records are kept secret from everyone except medical personnel or, or in some states like Minnesota, the state health department*. Individuals should ask who will know the results and how the record will be stored.

There is an important difference between confidential and anonymous testing for HIV. Confidential testing is a good option for people who need an official copy of their test result with their name on it. Confidential test results become part of your medical records, which can be released only with your written permission. Anonymous testing leaves no paper trail. When you have an anonymous test, you are known only by number, and the only person who learns the results is you. -back to top

Confidential HIV testing is done in the Nurse's Clinic at SHS on a walk in basis Mon-Fri 8-11:30am, except Wed 9-11:30am and every afternoon from 2:00-3:30pm. Check in at the front Registration desk and request "Counseling". This testing is confidential and the results are not released without your specific written consent. Confidential HIV testing is free for students enrolled in SHIP, and $17.79 for those without SHIP.

Anonymous and Confidential use the same testing method. The only difference is one does not have your name attached to the results. Anonymous antibody testing is available at Anonymous Test Sites in some California counties. Anonymous testing means that absolutely no one has access to your test results since your name is never recorded at the test site. It is always a good idea to contact the testing clinic directly to confirm what type of test is available.

Confidential testing means that the results of any HIV test performed will not be revealed to anybody except designated clinic staff, and in some cases, specific public health officials. Confidential testing will usually require a person to give their details (name, age, address) to the clinic performing the test. They then have to contact or return to the clinic after to get the results (unless a rapid test is used).

Most of the time medical care is “confidential”, this means that a clinic might have the names and other kinds of identifying information on file but, by law, they cannot release that information to anyone without the consent of the client. This absolute confidentiality is called “doctor client privilege”. This privilege extends to any health care provider, not just doctors, including those of us here at the Berkeley Free Clinic.

Anonymous unlinked HIV testing is a form of testing used worldwide for research and surveillance purposes, most commonly among pregnant women. Blood samples taken routinely for other tests are additionally tested for HIV. No personal information is taken and there is no way of linking the test results back to the person being tested. The results have no direct individual use but can provide important information for estimating HIV prevalence and incidence.

What many people call the "AIDS test" is not a test for AIDS, but for antibodies to the virus that cause AIDS- the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The immune system reacts to the HIV infection by producing antibodies that fight HIV. The test detects these antibodies. Therefore, the test is accurately called the "HIV Antibody Test".

The standard screening test for antibody to HIV is the enzyme immunoasssay (EIA), which is widely used in the United States and around the world. This test requires serum or plasma, so a blood specimen must be drawn from a vein. Because EIA requires specialized equipment, the specimen must be sent to a laboratory, and test results are usually available several days to several weeks later. A negative screening test means a person is not infected with HIV, and does not require further testing.

Over a prolonged period of time, as the body's immune system becomes increasingly compromised, the body will produce less and less antibodies and eventually reach a stage where neither Discreet, the ELISA, or the Western Blot would be capable of detecting them. This usually occurs during the late stages of AIDS. The current definition of someone in late stage AIDS is when their CD4 count dips below 200.

Anonymous: Data does not contain any information that would permit identification of the individual(s) about whom the data were collected. Confidential: Data contains information that would permit identification of the individual(s) about whom the data were collected, but is maintained in a manner that protects the information from release to unauthorized individuals.

Anonymous testing means that your name cannot be connected to the fact that you have had an HIV test or the results. Often, people being tested are assigned numbers instead. RUHS does NOT do anonymous testing. Robert Wood Johnson does. They may be contacted at (732) 235-7114. Confidential testing means that your name can be connected to your test and the results, but are part of your confidential medical record which only your medical provider can access.

HIV testing can be done at any good laboratory in nursing homes, private hospitals, government hospitals, and district hospitals. It is important that before one does a HIV test, they go through counseling before the test as it prepares one for the HIV result and further management. Counseling should also be done after the result of the HIV test is known for interpretation of the test result and planning further action. HIV/AIDS doesn't spread by mosquito bites.

I - Immuno-deficiency: because the effect of the virus is to create a deficiency, a failure to work properly, within the body's immune system. V - Virus: because this organism is a virus, which means one of its characteristics is that it is incapable of reproducing by itself. It reproduces by taking over the machinery of the human cell.