This question will probably seem very silly to you but if you could please answer it honestly I will very much appreciate it.
A few weeks after I had the HIV DUO test at Freedom health (negative result) I got anxious about HIV again so I went to another clinic and had an HIV INSTI test (the one that pricks your finger and takes 60 seconds for a result). The result was negative. I am sure that the packet that contained the INSTI components was sealed, however I started worrying about if there was someone in the factory that makes the INSTI test kits that puts together the INSTI packs and they managed to get some HIV (the HIV they use in laboratory's for testing - the artificialy high concentrations of HIV) and put it on the needle in the lancet - the packet that contains the lancet may already be opened I did'nt see or/and put the HIV on the pipette then put them in the INSTI pack before sealing.
If this absolutely wierd scenario would have happened can you please tell me what are the chances of being infected by using the lancet and pipette considering that the infected lancet and pipette would have been in the sealed INSTI pack for about 2 months (I checked the date on the packet). Would the HIV have died by this time and not able to infect even if the person who infected the equipment did it in a laboratory controlled conditions then immediately put the lancet and pipette into the INSTI pack and sealed it so as not to let the oxygen get to it.
Do you think I need to come and see you for another DUO test? I will book it with you as I trust your clinic. However please answer my question regarding the infected lancet and pipette and if this happened what are the chances of me being infected. I am not talking about the clinic that I had the INSTI test at, I am concerned about the conatmination occuring at the factory/lab that make and put together the INSTI kits.
Hello Tom,
I will answer your post this time.
I think that your worries are totally absurd and unfounded. The INSTI test are made by Biolytical Laboratories in Canada, and the possibility of a contaminated lancet is totally impossible. That would never happen. The kits are sterile and kept inside of seled envelopes. In any case, the virus becomes unstable after a few seconds if outside of the body and dies within minutes, even if kept in a seled container as it needs to be in the right medium (blood, fluids, etc.) and at the right temperature (body temperature).
You do not need to worry and you do not need any further tests.
More information about the INSTI test here.
Best wishes,
José
Thank you for your reply. So that I can get it straight in my head - even if the lancet and pipette were contaminated with the artificialy high strength laboratory HIV and the contamination was done in a laboratory setting (without exposure to oxygen) then sealed in the INSTI pack, the virus would still die quickly inside the sealed pack (within 2 months) and will therefore be impossible to infect. Is this true?
HIV contamination - could I get infected?
Linear Mode
