After a break of more than one and a half years due to the coronavirus pandemic, the health department of the district administration in cooperation with Aids-Hilfe Stuttgart e.V. is offering the first combined HIV and syphilis rapid test campaign in the health department of the district administration.
The test is anonymous and free of charge on this day. Registration is not necessary. Only people with 3G corona proof (vaccinated, recovered or tested within the last 24 hours) have access to the test offer. This is the 19th rapid test campaign in the health department since 2015, but all previous offers were only HIV rapid tests. Qualified social work advice is provided by Felix Mohrs from Aids-Hilfe Stuttgart e.V., while Dr. Uschi Traub, a doctor at the health department, takes the blood sample and makes the diagnosis.
The INSTI multiplex HIV/syphilis test used in the campaign is a qualitative, quick-to-read test that can detect antibodies against both HIV types (type 1 and type 2) as well as against syphilis. For the test, only a few drops of blood are taken from the fingertip, mixed with reaction solutions and placed on a test kit. The advantage of the rapid test is that the test result is available after just a few minutes. The result of the classic screening test offered to date (4th generation ELISA test for HIV and Treponema pallidum CMIA for syphilis) is only available after a week.
As the rapid test looks for antibodies that only form a few weeks after an infection, there should be at least twelve weeks between a possible risk contact (e.g. unprotected sex) and the rapid test in order to obtain a meaningful result. In the event of a positive test result, a confirmation test with venous blood is required.
In the 18 campaigns between 2015 and 2020, 534 people were tested, significantly more men (303) than women (229). Almost half of the clients were between 21 and 30 years old, around a quarter between 31 and 40. Teenagers and a few people over the age of 70 also came for the rapid tests. Two thirds of the clients lived in the Ludwigsburg district. Around three quarters reported heterosexual contact as a risk of infection, and around ten percent were men who had sex with men. Around four percent worked in the medical field and around ten percent reported sexual contact abroad. 19 people had contact with prostitutes, nine received blood transfusions and six people reported sexual contact with HIV-positive partners.
For further information, please contact Dr. Uschi Traub, Head of Health Promotion in the Health Department, Ludwigsburg District Office, Hindenburgstr. 20/1, 71638 Ludwigsburg, Tel. 07141 144-41304, e-mail: gesundheitsförderung@landkreis-ludwigsburg.de
