We are capable of checking for both HIV 1 and HIV 2 with blood or oral fluid in a few minutes. Our test is highly accurate, FDA approved, and done in our certified lab. We do not do home test or non-FDA approved self tests. An experienced medical doctor and not just a counselor will talk to you and answer all your specific questions. We will provide you with the official report with both the MD and Lab Director's signature the same day for your record, your doctor, or your partner. If you can not wait hours or days for your HIV test result, then we can provide one to you in minutes. We are centrally located in Southern California.
When it comes to HIV testing, count on us.
What is HIV RNA? It is a nucleic acid inside the HIV virus which contains genetic information.
What is Human DNA? It is a nucleic acid inside human cells which contains genetic information.
What is HIV 2 ?
There are 2 type of HIV today so just checking for HIV (1) does not mean you are positive or negative for HIV (2) as well. Find out more about HIV-2 on the following website:
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/facts/hiv2.htm
Travelers to the Ivory Coast, Gambia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone - if have been exposed to HIV, you may get a false negative test result in the USA as most of the HIV tests only offer HIV 1, which may not detect HIV 2 unless you inform your doctor and request a HIV-2 test as well.
HIV self run tests!: All of these are Non-FDA approved, and their distribution in the United States is prohibited and illegal - you may contact the CDC or FDA in order to confirm this. Be aware of misleading professional looking web sites. No matter what sales venders may claim regarding accuracy and being "FDA approved," this is not true. They are not tested and approved by the FDA and not clear for sale in the United States - many are bogus with unreliable false positive or negative results. You may contact the FDA to verify for yourself that there is no approved self-run HIV home test. To this day there is no approved home run HIV test clear and approved in the USA and that is why you cannot buy them in your chain or local pharmacy. See the following FDA links:
http://www.fda.gov/oashi/aids/testwarn.html
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/departs/1999/499_irs.html
Home HIV Test/Self Kit: AIDS by HIV is a terminal illness. Imagine placing an accuracy burden on a simple home test - do not try to run this test by yourself! Dr. Arani is strongly against these tests ("HIV is not a home cholesterol test, results will impact ones life immediately"). Some of these tests state that they should not get wet, some say to look at one line/dot for negative and 2 for positive. How sure you will be about the result? Is it approved? Did you test exactly the way they instructed because if you didn't get a accurate result then no one will take responsibility. For instance, instead of 3 drops of blood you had 2 1/2 or some blood sample stays on a corner of the test kit, now what? Are you still sure about the results? HIV testing should be performed by an experienced and responsible health professional and finalized by a certified medical laboratory. In this way, you will walk out with a fair confidence in your test result.
According to the FDA-"Don’t be fooled by a professional-looking website. Anyone can hire a web-page designer to create an appealing site."
Unfortunately, there are many unlawful Internet websites that function as a HIV/ medical/ STD test sales vendor. They get patients credit card info and send orders to a lab center like a menu! Labs may assume that the patient was seen physically by a real doctor and would therefore be screened by the appropriate test. We have seen many patients with inaccurate and wrong testing. In this way, these web sites put the public and both sexual partners at risk because of misleading HIV test results.
What is recommended?: The Center of Disease Control does not recommend HIV DNA PCR for HIV testing (we have contacted the CDC on 1/31/2006 to confirm this). It is very important that the method for choosing the type of testing is done by an experienced physician after receiving your history and evaluating your risk factors at the time of exposure and after preliminary results.
How do we do it ?
When you come to our center we will provide you with testing options and an explanation sheet. Then the doctor (MD) will answer all of your questions and discuss your testing options - consent will be obtained and test will be run. Doctor will give you your test result and speak with you about the result. You walk out with your official test report in few minutes.
What is 100% sensitive (fda-approved)test means ? It means that test will detect the HIV-1 in all (100%) of people who have HIV antibody. So if you are negative with our test you should have a well confident on your negative result after window. In other word, Lower sensitive test may give you false negative result.
............................................................................................................
Who could get tested for antibody ?
Whoever would like to know his baseline HIV status, it will give your HIV status after window period been met.
Who could get tested for special antigen ?
This test may be ordered if you have been recently exposed to HIV and you are really anxious and want to get possible more information regarding your HIV status before you develop antibody for routine Approved HIV antibody testing. This test is not routine test and will performed considering your exact possible timing of HIV exposure.
What does this result mean? A positive result means that you are infected with HIV.
What is HIV Antigen (Ag)? They are part of structure of HIV (virus). The test will detect these particle directly
What is HIV Antibody (Ab)? It is what our body makes (special protein) against HIV (Ag) to fight against it. It takes some time that body produce antibody. The test will detect for antibody that our body produce. So indirectly we detect HIV , in other word, if you have antibody against HIV then you have the HIV
Compare different method of HIV tests
HIV antibody test
(FDA recommended) |
check for
antibody against HIV
|
we use immunoassay, rapid antibody detection
|
our lab HIV
test check for antibody against HIV |
HIV Western Blot |
for confirmation
if antibody test became positive |
Gold standard when HIV antibody is positive |
when HIV antibody test become positive WB will confirm the diagnosis of HIV |
HIV antigen Test |
check for presence of small molecule protein which exist in core
|
FDA has recommended that all
blood and
plasma donations be screened with tests for HIV-1 using this method because these test results frequently become positive before assays for HIV antibodies, not recommend for routine diagnostic testing |
Valuable in detecting HIV infection early in the window period after exposure within three weeks after exposure |
PCR-DNA
(qualitative PCR) |
check for DNA
in cells of infected |
not recommended for first 28 days after exposure for increase false negative Not approved by FDA for diagnostic purpose |
Viral detection in case of neonatal HIV & indeterminate serologic tests ..only after 28 days of exposure |
Viral Load test
(quantitative PCR)
|
Amount of HIV in blood stream
mostly for known HIV/ AIDS patient |
some infected individual may have no viral load early in disease |
will reveal how much virus is in a person's bloodstream (the viral load). |
Pool sampling testing of Ribonucleic acid |
HIV presence in pool sample of blood
|
could detect
HIV as early as possible |
HIV virus in blood sample |
Above information and table is just for basic understanding and for our patient use only may not have diagnostic or therapeutic value. This must get explain by experienced physician for you.
We perform variety of different HIV tests in our center
When you walk in to our center you will be seen by Dr. Arani
All your questions regarding HIV testing/ risk/ transmission will be answered. Pre test counseling will be done. Your risk will be evaluated and we will perform confidential HIV test for you. Doctor will give your test result and official test report will be provided to you on same day since we have our own lab.
Example of Stages of HIV
Viral Transmission (2-3weeks)--->early retroviral syndrome(2-3 weeks)----->Recovery & seroconversion-------> No symptom HIV infection ( average about 8 years)-------> AIDS (avg 1-2 years)-----> Death
Possible Early HIV infection Symptom (retroviral syndrome)
Fever , Headache , Tiredness, Enlarged Lymph nodes
Possible Later HIV symptom(before AIDS)
Lack of energy
Weight loss
Frequent fevers and sweats
Persistent or frequent yeast infections (oral or vaginal)
Persistent skin rashes or flaky skin
Pelvic inflammatory disease in women that does not respond to treatment
Short-term memory loss
HIV in Oral Sex: According to recent study and CDC
"Yes, it is possible for either partner to become infected with HIV through performing or receiving oral sex. There have been a few cases of HIV transmission from performing oral sex on a person infected with HIV. While no one knows exactly what the degree of risk is, evidence suggests that the risk is less than that of unprotected anal or vaginal sex.
If the person performing oral sex has HIV, blood from their mouth may enter the body of the person receiving oral sex through
- the lining of the urethra (the opening at the tip of the penis);
- the lining of the vagina or cervix;
- the lining of the anus; or
- directly into the body through small cuts or open sores.
If the person receiving oral sex has HIV, their blood, semen (cum), pre-seminal fluid (pre-cum), or vaginal fluid may contain the virus. Cells lining the mouth of the person performing oral sex may allow HIV to enter their body.
The risk of HIV transmission increases
- if the person performing oral sex has cuts or sores around or in their mouth or throat;
- if the person receiving oral sex ejaculates in the mouth of the person performing oral sex; or
- if the person receiving oral sex has another sexually transmitted disease (STD).
Not having (abstaining from) sex is the most effective way to avoid HIV."
"likelihood of transmission of HIV from an infected person to an uninfected person varies significantly depending on the type of exposure or contact involved. The risk of becoming infected with HIV through unprotected (without a condom) oral sex is lower than that of unprotected anal or vaginal sex. However, even a lower risk activity can become an important way people get infected if it is done often enough".
"Nearly half (3 of 8) of these cases reported oral problems, including occasional bleeding gums. Almost all (7 of 8) of these men reported to have had oral contact with pre-semen or semen."
Gum Disease, Lip sore, Dental problem aphthous ulcer & Oral sex
All of the above oral pathology could increase the possibility of exposure to sexually transmitted disease. If you have fissure on your lip, if you have mouth sore, if you have bleeding gum if you have had recent tooth extraction by performing oral sex you are at both risk of getting or giving STDs to or from a partner. For you to understand this concept I would say HIV-1 to be 110 to 128 and 132 to 146 nm , so it is about 0.00011 to 0.000014 millimeter. It is so small that you can not even imagine it. It is hardly be seen by electron microscopy. In this way by having slightly bleeding the chance of exposure is high to thousands to million of virus depends of viral load at time of sex.
   
 
High Risk Behavior
1 in 4 don't know they're HIV positive  Testing rates in the United States remain low, researchers sayhttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21425612/
FDA warning against "internet sales of bogus HIV test kit" http://www.fda.gov/fdac/departs/1999/499_irs.html
According to FDA "Consumers should be aware that there are numerous HIV home testing systems that are marketed on the Internet, in newspapers and in magazines that are NOT FDA approved. These tests claim to detect antibodies to HIV in blood or saliva samples and provide results in the home in 15 minutes or less. The FDA has not approved these rapid HIV-1 home test kits for use and marketing in the United States. Some of these HIV home test kits falsely claim to be approved by the FDA or manufactured in an FDA approved/registered/licensed facility."
"In a joint investigation conducted by FDA and the Federal Trade Commission, an unapproved HIV rapid home-use test kit promoted on the Internet and sold domestically was tested by FDA and, in some cases, gave false negative results"
FDA Warning Letters for Unapproved HIV/AIDS Test Kits
http://www.fda.gov/oashi/aids/testwarn.html
This interesting story was reported by FDA:
"Sally" was afraid that she had been exposed to HIV. She didn’t want to buy a test in the local pharmacy because someone she knew might see her. She didn’t want to go to a clinic for the same reason. So, like many other consumers, Sally decided to purchase her HIV test from an Internet source. She took the test and was distraught to find that the result was positive. After several agonizing weeks, she went to her doctor who did a confirmatory test with a more sophisticated testing method – and the result was negative. Sally did not have HIV. The test she purchased from the Internet had not been approved or cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), so it did not include the required labeling for a confirmatory test and counseling after a positive result. "
For your continent we have extended our phone lines
(323) 231-6000, OC Appointment (714)-313-8011
............................[323] 231-7500
[323] 231-7400
(323) 231-8200
Welcome Walk in
(Free Parking in Rear)
4524 S. San Pedro Place
Los Angeles, CA 90011
Call for Direction & Appointment in Orange County
Testimonials (The
following patients were seen recently
in our clinic, and are just some examples
of numerous
other
similar praises.)
" I flew 3000 miles to see Dr.Arani,
he was only doctor that identified
my condition, more importantly he was very sincere during
this ordeal". J.R Florida
After being declared HIV positive by one of the world’s most renowned medical institutions, I came to your lab for a second opinion. Within 30 minutes, you were able to administer and return the results of an FDA approved test that showed that the original lab had made a mistake. After a week, the original lab called to tell me that I was in fact HIV negative and that they had made a mistake. The piece of mind your facility provided was crucial in helping me get through one of the most difficult weeks of my life.
Nic, Los Angeles CA 11/18/2008
"Thank you for giving me all
of the test and explanations....I
looked on the internet for other
centers. There are labs, but none
had a doctor." T. Braz California"
Today
I went for my final test for my Hiv
and STD test. It was negative. It
had been over a
year since
the
last risk encounter. It had been a
worst year in my whole life. Fortunately,
I
found Dr. Arani and
he helped me through
this horrible year. So as all the
nurses in this clinic had
been a great support for
me. He is not only my doctor, but
my friend and my psychiatrist. I
would like to have all my thank to
Dr.
Arani and nurses. 100% recommend to
everyone
who needan
excellent Infectious Disease Specialist
who
is more than just doctor, but friend"L.J
Los Angeles, California"
.....With 4 weeks of penile
discomfort and negative Gonorrhea/
Chlamydia test finally I was tested by Dr. Arani and he
explained my Urethritis and he treated me
and everything got cleared in few days ...."P.J Camarillo, California
..
"I got tested with commercial
medical lab and I was positive
for herpes. I was so stressed
and I did not know what to
do till I came and got examined
and tested with doctor and I
was explained that everything
was fine !. I got so
relieved....." Confidential
Patient Torrance, California
"I
came to Dr. Arani,...he was
the only person diagnose my
condition"
E.
Briceno Panorama
City, California
"It was
amazing that they tested
me for both HIV 1 and HIV
2 without needle with negative
result in few minutes. "
Pacoima, California
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