HIV/STI testing and treatment in Hungary
The information below is for you if you are a foreign citizen living or staying in Hungary and you need testing for HIV or other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or treatment for HIV or STIs.
Most HIV transmission or other STIs happen because people don’t know that they are living with HIV or have another sexually transmitted infection, and therefore receive no treatment. Make testing a routine part of your sex life.
HIV testing
Simply based on symptoms or appearances, you cannot with absolute certainty tell whether someone is infected with HIV. HIV infection can only be detected with HIV tests developed specifically for this purpose.
The most frequently used HIV tests do not detect the presence of the virus itself in the blood, but the presence of a specific antigen called p24 antigen and the antibodies that the immune system produces against the virus. Until the required amount of these is present in the blood, the tests cannot prove HIV infection. The period it takes for the amount of p24 antigens and HIV antibodies to reach detectable levels is called the window period. Taking this window period into consideration, we recommend that you get tested for HIV no sooner than one month after a sexual encounter that gives you cause for concern.
For a rapid HIV test, a very small amount of blood is taken from your fingertip by pricking it with a special device. The process is almost painless. The result usually shows in 20 minutes and, you can wait it out at most testing locations. Some service providers test by taking your blood: in this case results tend to arrive in a week or two. Most Hungarian testing locations offer anonymous tests free of charge.
Use our Testing Location Finder to find your nearest option.
If the result of the HIV test is negative: If you tested after the window period and the rapid test came out negative, then you can be sure of your negative result. There is nothing more you need to do.
If the result of the HIV test is positive: Although rapid tests are extremely sensitive, in very rare cases it might happen that due to some other biological processes happening in the body, a false positive result occurs. Therefore, a rapid HIV test with a positive result does not immediately establish HIV infection but should be seen as grounds for reasonable suspicion. Following a positive rapid test result, the physician prescribes another test by a laboratory qualified to do HIV serological testing. If this result is positive again, a verification (that is, an examination verifying the presence of infection) is done at the National Reference Laboratory. Only after this can a diagnosis of HIV infection be issued.
There is no right or wrong way to handle this piece of news. What is important is to take a deep breath and remember the following things that might help you at this moment:
- You’re not going to die!
- Thanks to the latest medical treatments, you will most likely live to the same age you would if you didn’t have HIV.
- Most patients receiving effective medical care achieve undetectable (“zero”) viral load, which means that there is no risk of transmitting the infection.
- We are here to support you. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have, help you navigate the Hungarian health care system, and help you process your positive test result. Feel free to contact us! (Please consider that this service is only available in Hungarian and English.)
HIV-related care
In Hungary, HIV-related care is free of charge if you have valid public health insurance, that is, you have been issued a social security number (commonly known as “TAJ-szám” (“TAJ number”) and an accompanying “TAJ-kártya” (“TAJ card”)) and somebody (such as your employer) regularly pays your public health insurance contribution. In this case you can even get your medications almost free, you only need to pay a nominal fee (currently HUF 300 per box). Service providers check the validity of your public health insurance electronically. If you don’t have valid public health insurance, you must pay for the various medical and lab tests and for the medication(s) your physician has prescribed for you (the sum of these altogether may exceed 200 to 250 thousand Forints per occasion). Currently there are four health care institutions in Hungary caring for people living with HIV.
Budapest
1097 Budapest, Albert Flórián út 5-7.
Building 15. (turn left after the main entrance, it’s the third building on the right)
Miskolc
B.-A.-Z. County Central Hospital
(B.-A.-Z. Vármegyei Központi Kórház)
3529 Miskolc, Csabai kapu 9-11.
Infectiology Building
Pécs
Infectiology Outpatient Center (Rákóczi site)
Building A, ground floor, room no. 6.
The process of HIV care
In most cases, HIV care begins with the confirmation of the seropositive rapid test.
The first time you go to the clinic of your choice, don’t forget to take with you all the relevant documents that you have (such as the result of the rapid test).
After the HIV positive result has been confirmed, your physician may do or demand several examinations, such as a physical examination, a full quantitative and qualitative analysis of a blood sample, the determination of your CD4 cell number, determining the number of HIV-RNS copies in the plasma (that is, determining the HIV virus number) and various serological examinations (syphilis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, toxoplasma).
After checking the results, your physician will give you recommendations about the medical treatment most suitable for you, which you should start as soon as possible. Although the medicines may have side effects, your quality of life will be exponentially better if you start taking antiretroviral drug(s) than if you let the disease run its natural course.
In the early stages of treatment, you might be called in for a check-up more often, but once the antiretroviral treatment has lowered your viral load under the limit value (“zero virus count”, typically taking six months), you will only need check-ups every nine months. During these examinations, they will take your blood to check your kidney and liver functions based on your blood sample, and they check your CD4 and virus count. The latter are among the key indicators used to monitor the effectiveness of HIV treatment.
After checking the effectiveness of your treatment, based on your lab and other results, your physician will recommend continuing the current treatment or, if necessary, modifying it.
STI testing
Just like with HIV, in the case of many sexually transmitted infections (e.g. syphilis, gonorrhea or various types of hepatitis) you can’t tell if a person is infected just by looking at them or learning about their symptoms – if there are symptoms at all, since many people don’t show any after contracting a sexually transmitted infection. Therefore, it is very important to regularly test for these infections as well.
Some STIs (like syphilis or hepatitis B) can be detected with a rapid test like the one used for HIV, but there are sexually transmitted infections that can only be detected with a medical smear test.
Just like HIV, other sexually transmitted infections also have a window period, whose length varies based on the virus or bacterial infection in question, and individual variation, as different people react differently to such infections.
Window periods of some common STIs:
Gonorrhea: 2 days
Hepatitis B: 60 days
Hepatitis C: 60 days
HPV: 30 days
Chlamydia: 21 days
Syphilis: 42 days
In Hungary, treatment for STIs is free of charge if you have valid public health insurance, that is, you have been issued a social security number (commonly known as “TAJ- szám” (“TAJ number”) and an accompanying “TAJ-kártya” (“TAJ card”)) and somebody (such as your employer) regularly pays your public health insurance contribution. If you suspect you might have contracted an STI, you should turn to the dermatology clinic (Dermatology and Venereology Clinic/Department) which is regionally competent in your area (according to the address on your Residence Card or another official document).
If you don’t have valid public health insurance, you must pay for the various medical and lab tests and for the medication(s) the physician has prescribed for you. Many private health service providers also have dermatology departments – if you don’t have a Hungarian public health insurance, it might be worth consulting one of these instead.
If the result of the STI test is negative: If you tested after the window period and the rapid test came out negative, then you can be sure of your negative result. There is nothing more you need to do.
If the result of the STI test is positive: The first thing you must remember is that this isn’t a tragedy, it can happen to anyone, and much more frequently than you’d think! Blaming yourself or anyone else you think might have passed it to you doesn’t solve the problem. If you can, inform your most recent sexual partners (approximately the past three months) about your infection and recommend that they also get tested. Fortunately, most sexually transmitted infections are relatively easy to cure, so the sooner you find out it about it, the faster it will be over.
