Q. What types of HIV tests are available?

A. Blood tests and other body fluid tests

Antibody Blood Tests: These tests are used for the detection of HIV antibodies in blood. The antibody EIA is the most commonly used screening test. The antibody Western blot is the most commonly used confirmatory test.

• HIV antibody EIA (enzyme immunoassay) or ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay)
• HIV antibody IFA (immunofluorescent assay)
• HIV antibody RIPA (radio immunoprecipitation assay)
• HIV antibody Western blot

Additional Blood Tests: These tests can be used to grow HIV in a lab, detect the virus in blood, measure the amount of virus in the blood, and examine the virus' genetic composition.

• HIV DNA PCR (polymerase chain reaction)
• HIV p24 antigen
• HIV culture
• HIV RNA
• bDNA (HIV branched chain DNA)
• NASBA (nucleic acid sequence-based amplification)

Other Body Fluid Tests: These tests detect the same antibodies as in the EIA and Western blot tests used for blood.

• HIV antibody EIA for urine
• oral HIV antibody EIA
• oral HIV antibody Western blot