Important to know  Do not eat or drink for 15 minutes before performing your test  Do not use any oral cleaning products, such as toothpaste or mouthwash for at least 30 minutes before performing your test  You can read your result after 20 minutes from performing your test but do not read after 40 minutes.  OraQuick HIV Self Test detects the antibodies to both HIV-1 and HIV-2  You can test from 4 weeks after your most recent exposure and although encouraging, you should not rely on a negative result until 12 weeks after your most recent exposure. This is because people make antibodies (seroconvert) at different times depending upon their own immune system and this is what is referred to as the ‘window period’. By 4 weeks about half of people have made detectable antibodies and by 6 weeks this has gone up to about 95%. However some people do not product antibodies until later. By 12 weeks 99.9% of people have made antibodies.  If you test within 12 weeks of a possible exposure and your test result is negative, you should test again 12 weeks after the possible exposure.  A positive result is always a positive result regardless of the window period  If you get a positive test result you must get your result confirmed by a healthcare professional  HIV is treatable condition if you know your status. Just one antiretroviral tablet a day can supress the virus to undetectable levels, meaning your own health and life expectancy are protected and as importantly, the virus cannot be passed on.  If you can’t get HIV from kissing, how can you test for HIV with a mouth swab? The OraQuick HIV Self Test detects antibodies to HIV, not the virus itself. Although there are more antibodies in blood, it is very simple to collect a much larger volume of oral fluid with our mouth swab. This is why the results from testing with oral fluid are comparable to testing with a blood sample