HIV Test Price in Pakistan: PKR 2,240 at Marham Lab

An HIV test checks whether you are infected with human immunodeficiency virus. MedlinePlus explains that HIV destroys certain cells in your immune system, the cells that protect you against bacteria, viruses and fungi, and that losing too many of them leaves your body struggling to fight infection. At Marham Lab an Anti HIV 1 and 2 test costs PKR 2,240.

If You Think You Were Exposed, Do Not Start With a Test

This is the most time-critical thing on the page.

MedlinePlus states that if you think you were exposed to HIV you should talk with a provider right away about emergency treatment called PEP, post-exposure prophylaxis, and that PEP may prevent an HIV infection if it is started within three days of a possible exposure. It adds that the sooner you start, the better.

A test taken immediately after exposure cannot tell you anything useful, because the virus has not yet built up enough to detect. Waiting for a test result before seeking advice can spend the window in which prevention was still possible. See a doctor first. Testing follows, during and after PEP.

The Window Period, and Why an Early Negative Is Not an All Clear

MedlinePlus states that all three main types of HIV test are very accurate, but that no test can find HIV immediately after infection, because it takes weeks for the signs in your body to rise enough to show up.

MedlinePlus notes the antibody and antigen test is the most commonly used, and that NAT is mostly used for monitoring treatment rather than routine screening because it is expensive.

The practical rule MedlinePlus gives: a negative result after a possible exposure 90 days ago or longer means you can be confident you do not have HIV. A negative result when the exposure was less than 90 days ago will likely need repeating.

When to Ask About a NAT Test Instead

MedlinePlus says to ask your provider about a NAT as soon as possible if you know you were exposed, or if you may have been exposed and have symptoms. The symptoms it lists are flu-like illness with fever, chills and aches, extreme fatigue, swollen lymph nodes in the neck, groin or armpit, rash, sores in the mouth, night sweats, sore throat and unexplained weight loss.

Who Should Be Tested

MedlinePlus reports the CDC recommendation that everyone between 13 and 64 be tested at least once as part of routine health care.

It lists reasons to test sooner if your last test was more than a year ago: vaginal or anal sex with someone who has HIV or whose status you do not know, sharing needles or other injecting equipment, exchanging sex for money or drugs, having had a sexually transmitted infection such as syphilis, or having sex with anyone who has done any of those things. If any of these apply regularly, MedlinePlus says testing at least once a year.

Two points matter particularly in Pakistan. MedlinePlus states that if you have had [hepatitis](/labs/tests/hepatitis-c-test-price) or tuberculosis you should be tested for HIV at least once a year. And in pregnancy, it notes HIV can pass to the baby during pregnancy, at birth and through breast milk, and that medicines taken during pregnancy and delivery greatly reduce that risk.

Reading Your Result

A negative result means no signs of infection were found in your sample. MedlinePlus is careful here: that does not always mean you do not have HIV, because it may be too soon for the test to tell.

A positive result means signs of infection were found. MedlinePlus states you will need a follow-up test to confirm the diagnosis unless you had a NAT test.

If the follow-up is also positive, MedlinePlus says it is important to start antiretroviral therapy right away, even if you still feel healthy. It explains that ART cannot cure HIV but may lower the amount of virus in your blood so far that a test cannot find it.

The line worth holding on to is this one from MedlinePlus: most people with HIV do not have AIDS, and if you take HIV medicines as prescribed you may never get AIDS.

On Privacy

MedlinePlus notes HIV testing can be anonymous, with a number used instead of your name.

Stigma keeps people from testing, and that costs lives rather than protecting reputations. Home sample collection in Lahore means the sample can be taken at your home rather than in a waiting room, which for many people is the difference between testing and not testing.

How to Prepare

No special preparation and no fasting.

What Happens During the Test

A trained phlebotomist takes a small blood sample from a vein in your arm using a small needle. MedlinePlus notes it usually takes less than five minutes and you may feel a little sting. In Lahore the sample can be collected at your home.

اردو میں

ایچ آئی وی ٹیسٹ یہ معلوم کرتا ہے کہ جسم میں یہ وائرس موجود ہے یا نہیں۔ یہ وائرس مدافعتی نظام کے ان خلیوں کو تباہ کرتا ہے جو جسم کو انفیکشن سے بچاتے ہیں۔

سب سے اہم اور فوری بات۔ اگر آپ کو لگتا ہے کہ آپ وائرس کے سامنے آئے ہیں تو فوراً ڈاکٹر سے رابطہ کریں۔ ایک حفاظتی علاج موجود ہے جسے پی ای پی کہتے ہیں، جو ممکنہ نمائش کے تین دن کے اندر شروع کیا جائے تو انفیکشن روک سکتا ہے۔ ٹیسٹ کے نتیجے کا انتظار نہ کریں، کیونکہ اتنی جلدی ٹیسٹ کچھ نہیں بتاتا۔

دوسری ضروری بات۔ انفیکشن کے فوراً بعد ٹیسٹ منفی آ سکتا ہے حالانکہ وائرس موجود ہو۔ عام ٹیسٹ اٹھارہ سے پینتالیس دن بعد وائرس پکڑ سکتا ہے۔ اگر نمائش کو نوے دن سے زیادہ ہو چکے ہوں اور رپورٹ منفی ہو تو اطمینان کیا جا سکتا ہے۔

یاد رکھیں، ایچ آئی وی اور ایڈز ایک چیز نہیں۔ اگر بروقت تشخیص ہو جائے اور دوا باقاعدگی سے لی جائے تو زیادہ تر افراد کو کبھی ایڈز نہیں ہوتا۔

ٹیسٹ سے پہلے بھوکا رہنے کی ضرورت نہیں۔ لاہور میں گھر سے نمونہ لینے کی سہولت موجود ہے، جس سے رازداری برقرار رہتی ہے۔ مرہم لیب میں قیمت بائیس سو چالیس روپے ہے۔

Final Thoughts

Two things decide how useful this test is. If an exposure may have happened in the last three days, the priority is a doctor and a conversation about PEP, not a blood sample. If the exposure was longer ago, the timing decides what a negative result is worth, and 90 days is the point at which a negative becomes a confident answer. Early diagnosis is what keeps HIV from becoming AIDS, and treatment works.