HIV and Aids

What do HIV tests include?

• An initial screening test - this picks up nearly all cases of HIV infection but occasionally gives a 'false positive' answer
• Second, confirmatory, tests if the first is positive - at least two further tests are done on the blood sample to make sure that no one is told they are HIV positive in error

This more specific second test can differentiate between HIV antibodies and other antibodies that react to the EIA, causing positive results even when the person is not actually infected with HIV. Although false-positive EIA results are uncommon, they can occur when the test mistakes other antibodies that the body has made for HIV antibodies.

What if the test is negative?
If your HIV antibody test is negative, you are either uninfected or in the early stages of the production of HIV antibodies.

This early period before development of HIV antibodies, which would not be detectable on a test, is called the seroconversion time or period. Some have referred to this time as the 'window period,' since this is the window of opportunity for persons to unknowingly infect others. The average time for detectable HIV antibodies to develop is 25 days. In some cases a test result is indeterminate or equivocal, meaning it is too early for detection of HIV antibodies or your blood has produced something to cause a test reaction. If an indeterminate reading continues for six months or longer, you are considered uninfected.