hiv

[mandie772]

i  im  sure  ive  had  all  hiv  symtpoms  had 4 negative  tests since  jan 2011 from  an  incident  in  october aving  recurrent  mouth  problems  could  my  tests  be  false  negatives  im  really  worried

[mandie772]

it  happened  in  october 2010 i  tested  in january  2011 and  in  june  august all  4th  generation  tests  then  in  sept  i  had  a  finger ***** insti  test  results  straight  away  again  negative  had  blood  tests keeps  coming  back  my  white  cells  are  raised  last blood  tests  said  there  was  an  infection  in my  neutrophilis and  have  mouth  problem  and  a  swallowing problem  would  you  still  say  im  save  or  can  hiv go  undetected  even  with  the  tests x

[Bridget A. Hewitt, RN]

Hi and thanks for using the forum.

So, according to the CDC, most people develop antibodies (this is what the HIV test looks for) within the first 3 months of exposure.  So it is recommended that testing be done after that 3 month period.  There are a small percentage of people who can take up to 6 months to develop antibodies.  There is also an RNA test which detects the HIV virus directly.  This would be positive within 9-11 days, but is much more costly.  

If your exposure occurred a year ago and you have had a negative HIV within the last 6 months, then you are well within the window in which the HIV would have shown up.  This would lead me to believe that your HIV testing is correct.  I hope this helps.  Good luck.

Bridget