Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is an infectious disease that can spread through contact with bodily fluids or blood from an HIV infected person. HIV is tested using a dried blood spot to perform a 4th generation antigen/antibody test. This is a highly accurate test and can be positive as soon as about three weeks after exposure.

Please keep in mind, HIV-positive individuals are not eligible to take PrEP. If a PrEP user becomes HIV positive, PrEP usage should stop immediately and begin antiretroviral therapy to treat HIV infection.

Hepatitis B (Hep B) is an infectious disease that can spread through sexual contact and cause liver damage. Although contracting Hep B is unlikely since most people are vaccinated for this infection, testing for Hep B is still required before someone begins PrEP. The PrEP Baseline Box is the only time you will need to test for this infection. Hep B testing uses dried blood spot to detect antibodies the body makes to fight against Hep B and is widely used to find out if a person is infected or not.

Hepatitis C (Hep C), like Hepatitis B, is also an infectious disease that can spread through contaminated blood or sexual contact and can cause liver damage. Hep C is also only tested once for those about to start PrEP through our PrEP Baseline Box. Just like Hepatitis B, Hep C testing uses dried blood spot to test for antibodies the body makes to combat the infection. If test results are positive for Hep C, confirmation testing is required using blood drawn from the arm rather than a dried blood spot.

Syphilis is a bacterial infection that can spread through sexual contact with painless sores called chancres. These sores are located mainly on the external genitals. The infection can also spread via syphilis in the anal area and the lips/mouth. Pregnant women with syphilis can infect the fetus leading to congenital syphilis. A dried blood spot is used to screen for syphilis antibodies to help find out if someone is positive for syphilis. The PrEP Follow-up Box can help detect syphilis early so you can be treated promptly. A positive screening test for syphilis requires a confirmation test using blood drawn from the arm rather than a dried blood spot.

Chlamydia is a bacterial infection that can spread by having unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Chlamydia is detected using DNA testing from a rectal swab. Chlamydia is a very common STD, many people don’t usually show visible symptoms. That’s one of the reasons it is important to have three -month follow-up testing when on PrEP.

Gonorrhea is another common bacterial STD included in the PrEP box. Gonorrhea can spread through unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Testing for this STD uses gonorrhea DNA detection from the oral and rectal swabs. Since gonorrhea is very common and most people often don’t show symptoms, follow-up testing every 3-months is required for PrEP users.

Creatinine is a waste product the human body makes from normal muscle breakdown and is filtered through the kidneys and excreted in urine. This blood test measures your level of creatinine which can help show how well your kidneys are functioning. Though very unlikely, one of the side effects of taking PrEP is having slightly increased levels of creatinine. To be on the safe side, creatinine levels are measured routinely while taking PrEP.