Tests at Checkpoint Ulm

Our testing offer at Checkpoint Ulm at Furttenbachstraße 14, 89077 Ulm, usually takes place on Wednesdays in even calendar weeks between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

Prices from 01.01.2023:

• HIV rapid test €22.50
• HIV laboratory test €17.50
• Syphilis rapid test €10.00
• Syphilis laboratory test €10.00
• Hepatitis B screening test (for hepatitis B unvaccinated people) €17.50
• Hepatitis B vaccination titer (for hepatitis B vaccinated people) €17.50
• Hepatitis C laboratory test €17.50
• Chlamydia/gonorrhea combination test (throat or anal or vaginal swab or urine sample) €22.50 per test
• STI test package (contains all tests offered) €65

All tests are carried out anonymously. Each test is preceded by a personal consultation.
Medical staff and doctors are present on the test evening.
You will receive the results of the laboratory tests online approximately one week later.

No appointments are necessary for the tests!

The testing services at Checkpoint Ulm are supported by Gilead and Abbvie.

rapid testing for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis C

Accordion subtitle

You can have a rapid test for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis C carried out without prior appointment every Wednesday morning between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. at the Ulm AIDS Help Center.

• All tests are anonymous!
• An HIV rapid test costs 22.50 euros, a syphilis rapid test costs 10.00 euros, a hepatitis C rapid test costs 17.50 euros
• As a package, we offer you all three rapid tests for a total of 30.00 euros!
• We accept card payments as well as cash.

You find the Checkpoint at the AIDS Hilfe, Furttenbachstr. 14, 89077 Ulm (Entrance at the corner Zinglerstraße).

 

The most important things about the HIV test at a glance

HIV laboratory test

For a laboratory test, blood is taken from the crook of the arm and sent to a laboratory. A doctor must be present when the blood is taken. Modern HIV laboratory tests look for both antibodies and a specific component of HIV. In order to detect this component, the amount of HIV in the blood must be very high. This is only the case shortly after infection or when the immune system is weak (for example in the AIDS stage).

If you want to detect an HIV infection, you can use an antigen-antibody test from around two weeks after a risk of HIV transmission.

However, the test can only rule out infection with certainty six weeks after the last risk. That is the maximum time it takes for enough antibodies to be formed for detection.

If the laboratory test reacts, a confirmation test is carried out in the laboratory straight away.

You have to wait a few days for the result of the laboratory test.

HIV rapid test

Rapid HIV tests only require a small amount of blood from the fingertip. Rapid tests deliver results quickly, i.e. within a few minutes.

Rapid tests can detect an HIV infection as early as around three weeks after infection.

However, rapid tests can only rule out infection with certainty twelve weeks after the last risk.

Just like with laboratory tests, a positive result with rapid tests must be confirmed by a confirmation test. For this, blood is taken from the crook of the arm. It takes one to two days for the result of the confirmation test to be available.

self-test/home tests

HIV self-tests or home tests are quick tests that are approved for use by laypeople. You can do the test comfortably and alone at home. A little blood is taken from the fingertip and placed in a test device. The result can be read after a few minutes.

Here you can find detailed information about the HIV self-test.

PCR test

The PCR test does not look for antibodies, but for HIV itself.

It is used primarily to check whether HIV therapy is working. This is the case when the medication prevents HIV from multiplying to such an extent that no more viruses can be detected. The most sensitive PCR tests can measure a virus quantity of 20 copies per milliliter of blood serum.

The PCR test can also be used as a confirmation test for a reactive antibody screening test. If it measures more than 1,000 HIV copies per milliliter of blood serum, the result is confirmed.

The PCR test can also be used on newborns. In the first 18 months, antibody screening tests on babies of mothers with HIV always come back reactive, even though they are probably not infected themselves. The reason: the babies have their mothers' antibodies in their blood.

PCR tests are generally not suitable for ruling out HIV infection. Only a laboratory, rapid or self-test should be used for this.