What is the OraQuick® HIV Self-Test?

The OraQuick HIV Self-Test is a private, and accurate way for you to test yourself for HIV. It is the same test preferred by many public health professionals.

The OraQuick HIV Self-Test is an in-vitro diagnostic self-test for HIV (HIV-1 and HIV-2) in oral fluid. This test works by looking for your body's response (antibodies) to fighting the HIV virus. A positive result is preliminary and follow-up confirmatory testing is needed.

The OraQuick test should only be used to test for HIV, and should not be used for other purposes. If you need to be tested for pregnancy or for a sexually transmitted disease (STD) or other infection, please contact your doctor or healthcare provider. They can help you get tested.

The OraQuick® In-Home HIV test has been re-branded to the OraQuick® HIV Self-Test with a fresh new design that prioritizes environmental sustainability. Our new packaging has been thoughtfully redesigned to reduce waste and minimize environmental impact. Rest assured, the OraQuick® HIV Self-Test is just as reliable and easy to use as before. The changes are solely in the packaging and branding, not the functionality or accuracy of the test.

The OraQuick HIV Self-Test is a qualitative test that is designed to be visually read and test for the presence of antibodies to HIV-1 and HIV-2. It can provide results such as:

- preliminary positive,

- negative, or

- test not working (invalid).

The test is not quantitative in nature; therefore, the intensity of the lines on the test stick does not correlate with the stage of the disease or the infection potential.

An HIV antibody test detects the cells that the body's immune (defense) system creates in response to HIV infection. When HIV enters the body, the body starts to produce antibodies. In the case of HIV, the antibodies can't fight off the infection. However, their presence can be used to determine whether a person has HIV in their body.

A rapid HIV test can produce accurate results in as little as 20 minutes. Standard laboratory screening can take from 24 hours to a few days.

Rapid HIV tests that use oral fluid are safe and accurate, and they provide quick results. They're a good option for people who don't like to have blood drawn or their finger pricked. The OraQuick HIV Self-Test also provides benefits such as convenience and privacy.

Rapid HIV tests that use oral fluid are safer for healthcare workers. The risk of exposure to infectious diseases is much lower from oral fluid than from blood. Contact with oral fluid has never been proven to result in the transmission (spread) of HIV.

In a professional setting, rapid HIV tests are more than 99% accurate. The FDA approved OraQuick HIV Self-Test performance resulted in 99.9% of people (4,902 out of 4,903) tested correctly reporting a negative test result and 91.7 % of HIV positive people (88 out of 96) tested correctly reporting a positive test result. As with standard HIV tests, a positive test result must be followed up with a confirmatory HIV test in a professional healthcare setting.

The OraQuick HIV Self-Test does not use a saliva sample. It uses oral fluid, which is different from saliva.

Oral fluid, collected from the gumline, contains antibodies. Antibodies are proteins produced by the body's immune (defense) system to fight infection. If the oral fluid contains antibodies to HIV, it indicates that the person has been infected with HIV.