HIV testing: what to know

Who should get tested

The CDC recommends that everyone ages 13 to 64 get tested for HIV at least once as part of routine health care. Testing is quick, and knowing your status is the first step toward prevention or treatment.

• Test at least once a year if you have an ongoing chance of exposure, such as new or multiple sex partners or sharing injection equipment.
• Some sexually active gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men may benefit from testing every 3 to 6 months.
• Test before starting PrEP, and on a regular schedule while taking it.

Types of HIV tests

There are three main kinds of HIV tests. They look for different signs of HIV, which is why each one can detect HIV at a different point after exposure.

• Antibody tests look for antibodies your body makes against HIV. Most rapid tests and the oral self-test are antibody tests.
• Antigen/antibody tests look for both antibodies and a part of the virus called p24 antigen. Lab tests using blood from a vein can find HIV sooner than antibody-only tests.
• Nucleic acid tests (NATs) look for the virus itself in the blood. They can detect HIV the earliest but are usually used in specific situations, such as a recent high-risk exposure.

Testing at home

At-home options include self-tests that give a result in minutes and mail-in kits where you collect a sample and send it to a lab. A positive self-test result always needs a follow-up test from a lab to confirm it.

If a test is negative but your exposure was recent, it may be too early for the test to detect HIV. See our guide to testing windows to know when to test again.

If you were exposed in the last 72 hours

Do not wait to test. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is medication that can prevent HIV when started within 72 hours of a possible exposure, and it works best the sooner it is started. Contact a provider, urgent care, or emergency room right away.

After your result

• Negative: you can keep it that way with prevention options like condoms and PrEP. Retest if the exposure was inside the window period.
• Positive: a follow-up test confirms the result. HIV is a treatable condition, and starting treatment early protects your health.
• People with HIV who take treatment as prescribed and keep an undetectable viral load do not transmit HIV through sex.