VCT vs BLOOD DONATION

  

VOLUNTARY COUNSELING and TESTING for HIV

VERSUS

 BLOOD DONATION

I heard a lot of stories of people who donate blood for the purpose of knowing their HIV Status. Well on my opinion they are doing it the wrong way. In this topic I will discuss about Voluntary Counseling and Testing for HIV vs. Blood Donation

Rapid HIV Test Kit

VOLUNTARY COUNSELING and TESTING  for HIV

            is a procedure done to a person who voluntary submits himself/herself to be screened for HIV. This Procedure is done by a trained VCT Counselor who does the Pre- and Post-Test Counseling. Counseling before and after an HIV test is important because it provides critical information about HIV itself and about the testing process. While counseling services may not be available in all health care settings, many testing sites do offer these services. If you would like access to pre-test and post-test counseling, be sure to inquire about the availability of these services at your chosen test site. If they do not have them readily available, the staff may be able to direct you to alternate service providers who do.

Pre-test counseling sessions generally include the following:

• Information about the HIV test—what it tests for, what it might NOT tell you, and how long it will take you to get your results
• Information about how HIV is transmitted and how you can protect yourself from infection
• Information about the confidentiality of your test results
• A clear, easy-to-understand explanation of what your test results mean

After Pre-Test Counseling the HIV Counselor will direct you to a HIV Proficient Medical Technologist and he/she will extract blood for it to be screened for HIV.

Anonymous HIV testing is a procedure whereby the identity of the individual being tested is protected or not known. Two methods of anonymous HIV testing are the unlinked anonymous and the voluntary anonymous.

Any person who submits to anonymous HIV testing shall not be required to provide a name, age, address or any other information that may potentially identify the same. In the case of voluntary anonymous HIV testing an identifying symbol is substituted for the person’s true name or identity. The symbol enables the laboratory doing the test and the test person to match the test result with the said symbol.

Once the results are available, you will usually be given the results in private and in person. (THE CLIENT SHOULD BE THE FIRST ONE TO SEE WHAT THE RESULT IS AND IF HE/SHE WANTS TO VERIFY IT THEN HE/SHE COULD HAND IT OVER TO THE COUNSELOR FOR THEM TO INTERPRET THE RESULT.)

Post-test counseling generally includes:

• Clear communication about what your test result means
• HIV prevention counseling, if your results are negative
• A confirmatory test, called a Western blot test, if your results are positive. The results of that test should be available within 2-3 weeks.
• Proper referral to Treatment Hub to access mostly FREE SERVICES

 
 

 VCT FLOW (if specimen is POSITIVE)

TESTING ALGORHYTHM

   

BLOOD DONATION

            occurs when a person voluntarily has blood drawn and used for transfusions.

STEPS ON BLOOD DONATION

• Have your weight taken.
• Register and honestly and complete the donor registration form.
• Have your blood type and hemoglobin checked.
• A physician will conduct a blood donor examination.
• Actual donation--the amount of blood to be donated (either 350cc or 450cc) will depend on the donor's weight and blood pressure. It usually takes 10 minutes or less.
• A 5 to 10 minute rest and plenty of fluid-intake are necessary after donation.

In the screening process, you have to fill out a blood donation questionnaire form that includes direct questions about behaviors known to carry a higher risk of blood-borne infections—infections that are transmitted through the blood. These behaviors include prostitution, intravenous drug use and others. Each unit of blood collected will be examined for 5 transfusion-transmissible infectious diseases, namely: HIV, Malaria, Syphillis, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C before it is transfused to patients. A trained physician will be asking you about your medical/ health history, and a physical examination will be conducted—which includes checking your blood pressure, pulse and temperature. All of the information from this evaluation is kept strictly confidential.

During your blood donation screening procedure, a small sample of blood taken from a finger prick is used to check your hemoglobin level, the oxygen-carrying component of your blood. If your hemoglobin concentration is normal, and you've met all the other screening requirements, you can donate blood.

Donated Blood that tests positive for HIV is sent to Research Institute for Tropical Medicine for it to be recorded and then DISPOSED RIGHT AWAY WITHOUT NOTIFYING THE CLIENT.

As a Summary Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT), the CLIENT is screened for HIV while in Blood Donation the BLOOD is the one screened for Sexually Transmissible Infection including HIV.

Implications for getting screened for HIV through BLOOD DONATION is that you won't be informed of your Status and so it's still possible that you will do the same risky behavior and probably would be able to transmit it to other people unknowingly. Also the Blood that you donated if it would reveal a FALSE NEGATIVE result because of the WINDOW PERIOD would also be a danger to the recipient (Good thing that screening for blood nowadays have been very updated , they use the ANTIGEN TEST wherein as early as 3weeks would already detect HIV). And with you being unaware of your HIV Status would result to serious complications in the future and could even lead to DEATH.

A WORD OF ADVISE: 

KNOW YOUR STATUS ( HIV + or HIV - ? )
BE RESPONSIBLE ( Abstinence, Be Faithful to Uninfected partner, Correct and Consistent Condom Use, Don't Share Used Needles/Syringes)

GET TESTED ( If you have doubts about your HIV Status, it's better to submit yourself for VCT  in about 3months from your last risky behavior, NEVER DONATE BLOOD for the purpose of knowing your HIV Status )

KNOW THE FACTS ( Education & Early Treatment of Sexually Transmitted Infection )

 

Sources:

http://aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/prevention/hiv-testing/pre-post-test-counseling/

http://www.redcross.org.ph/blooddonationfaqs

 
Jake Positive. BE SAFE! +)

THE RED RIBBON

 

The RED RIBBON is the international symbol of HIV and AIDS awareness, a symbol of respect for People Living with HIV and AIDS. It reminds us all of the constant need to keep up with the fight against HIV and AIDS.

It was created in early 1991 by Visual AIDs in New York for a global symbol in the fight against HIV and AIDS. It is a symbol for Solidarity and Acceptance with those often discriminated upon by the public, the People Living with HIV and AIDS.

The RED RIBBON is . . .

• "Red" like LOVE, as a symbol of Compassion and Acceptance towards those affected.

• "Red" like BLOOD, representing the pain experienced by the many people who suffered and died with AIDS.

• "Red" like ANGER against helplessness for we are facing a disease for which there is still no change of CURE.

• "Red" as a sign of WARNING not to carelessly ignore the one of the biggest problems of our time.

JaKe Positive. BE SAFE! +)

QUOTE

JaKe Positive. BE SAFE! +)

VACCINATION 101

A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins or one of its surface proteins. The agent stimulates the body's immune system to recognize the agent as foreign, destroy it, and "remember" it, so that the immune system can more easily recognize and destroy any of these microorganisms that it later encounters.
Vaccines can be prophylactic (example: to prevent or ameliorate the effects of a future infection by any natural or "wild" pathogen), or therapeutic (e.g. vaccines against cancer are also being investigated).

Vaccines do not guarantee complete protection from a disease. Sometimes, this is because the host's immune system simply does not respond adequately or at all. This may be due to a lowered immunity in general (diabetes, steroid use, HIV infection, age) or because the host's immune system does not have a B cell capable of generating antibodies to that antigen.
Even if the host develops antibodies, the human immune system is not perfect and in any case the immune system might still not be able to defeat the infection immediately. In this case, the infection will be less severe and heal faster.


Who should get vaccinated?

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control have come out with updated vaccine guidelines for adults, especially women in the reproductive age group:

• Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccination is recommended for women of all ages.
• All adults should receive 2 doses of Varicella vaccine.
• The influenza vaccine is indicated in all adults and should be repeated yearly.

In the Philippines, the peak of the flu season is during the rainy months of June to September. The best time to get the flu vaccine is between March and June, although getting immunized in later months can still provide protection.

 
More vaccine guidelines

• In pregnant women, the only vaccines to be avoided are MMR, varicella and herpes zoster.
• Don’t get pregnant one month after receiving these vaccines.
• All adults between 19-64 years old should receive tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis (Tdap).  If pregnant, wait till after the 5th month.
• Pneumococcal vaccine should be given to all adults from age 65 and above. It may be given at a younger age if the adult has diabetes, asthma or a history of cigarette smoking.
• Hepatitis A and B vaccination should be repeated every 5 years.

With these new guidelines, it is hoped that an immunized populace will mean the eradication of preventable diseases that lead to many serious conditions.


Remember: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

"PLEASE CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE DOING IT"

Source: http://ph.she.yahoo.com/vaccinations-are-not-for-children-only.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccine


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