Consumers like home testing because it is convenient. A simple quick test at home avoids a trip to the doctor's office, which can take a large chunk of time. Home testing is also anonymous. You may get fast results, or have to set up a private personal identification number (PIN). Either way, the results are for you alone.
Critics say some kits promote undue fear and are a waste of time and money because they are unreliable or give false results if not done correctly. However, the increasing desire of consumers to detect potential health problems early is making the home testing trend more desirable.
If you are looking into home testing, here is some information about what tests are available and how they work.
Hepatitis C
A home Test Kit is available to test for the hepatitis C virus. The over-the-counter blood collection kit tests for antibodies to the virus. With this home collection kit, you can collect a blood sample and mail it to a lab for testing. Results take about a week. Each test comes with a PIN, a lancet, sample card, and a prepaid envelope to mail the sample to the lab. You must first register your kit by calling the toll-free number and entering the kit's PIN, providing anonymous and confidential testing. Counselors are available 24 hours a day to talk with you before and after using the kit. Studies done by Home Access Health Corporation (the distributor) show that test results with the kit are similar to the results for blood drawn by a healthcare professional.
A Vacuumm Blood Collection Tube is a sterile glass or plastic test tube with a colored rubber stopper creating a vacuum seal inside of the tube, facilitating the drawing of a predetermined volume of liquid. Tubes are available with a safety-engineered stopper, with a variety of labeling options and draw volumes.
Vacutainer tubes may contain additional substances that preserve blood for processing in a medical laboratory. Using the wrong tube may make the blood sample unusable for the intended purpose. These additives are typically thin film coatings applied using an ultrasonic nozzle.
The additives may include anticoagulants (EDTA, sodium citrate, heparin) or a gel with density between those of blood cells and blood plasma. Additionally, some tubes contain additives that preserve certain components of or substances within the blood, such as glucose. When a tube is centrifuged, the materials within are separated by density, with the blood cells sinking to the bottom and the plasma or serum accumulating at the top. Tubes containing gel can be easily handled and transported after centrifugation without the blood cells and serum mixing.
The UQ-developed process uses copies of fragments from the viral genetic material to assemble the functional viral genome in a Virus Sampling Tube.
The team hopes that this should allow scientists to rapidly generate virus variants and assess their potential to evade antiviral treatments and vaccine-induced immunity.
QIMR Berghofer helped to evaluate infection and disease caused by the ‘test tube’-made virus in pre-clinical models to ensure the technology was able to generate authentic viruses.
Professor Andreas Suhrbier from QIMR Berghofer said the research was essential, as viruses were changing all the time.
“We can now monitor changes in viruses like SARS-CoV-2 and can see which variants may not respond to certain vaccines and anti-viral treatments.
“We can also investigate whether potential variants are more or less virulent in mice, and find out which drugs and vaccines will be effective.
“It’s great to finally have this vital tool and start tackling these challenging questions.”