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Jennifer Choi
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NYU Medical Center Public Affairs
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NYU Medical Center Expert Available to Discuss an Over-the-Counter HIV test

Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases & Immunology at NYU School of Medicine, is available to talk about the over-the-counter home HIV test under consideration with the Food and Drugs Administration. "This will be the only potentially fatal disease you would be able to screen for at home," notes Dr. Daskalakis.
He added that, “this is very interesting because the test itself is the equivalent of a pregnancy test--if you can brush your teeth, you can take this test. However, the implications of being alone when you find out you may have a significant chronic and potentially lethal disease raises many questions. It's a great idea for people to have easy access to HIV testing, but there needs to be a clear plan about where people can turn to for answers if they get a positive or negative result. Unlike a pregnancy test—you are or you’re not-- a positive result on an HIV test can mean many different things."