am i hiv negative?

[jdavis361]

hello,
had an exposure and took and rna exam at 13 days post. then I took an antibody rapid test at 5 weeks and 2 days...this was a finger prick test. am I hiv negative?
thank you.

[jdavis361]

Doctor,
Thank you. He said they used a STATPAK...is this ok? Sorry just wanna br 100% sure

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Last answer.  Consider this result conclusive.

End of thread.  EWH

[jdavis361]

Hi Doctor,
If i need to pay again i will just thought i can get a final assessment. I tested at 52 days post exposure with rapid antibody exam. Came out negative. Can this be considered conclusive? I know i was short 4 days from the 8 week mark. Thank you.

[jdavis361]

Yeah, i dont have enough for this month to cover an rna exam. I relied on the nurses comment saying it was adequate to test....i think i will wait for the 6 week and 8 week mark....those tests are free....im praying for a negative result

[Edward W Hook, MD]

If you test at 6 weeks with BOTH an RNA test and an antibody test and are negative, as I am confident you will be, you can be confident you did not get HIV.  EWH

[jdavis361]

So can i test at 6 weeks along with my 2 week rna test and put this behind me?

The only thing different was 6-8 week interval.

I am really scared and regret what idid

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Your comment is correct and nothing from the quote you pasted is above changes what I have aleady said.  EWWH

[jdavis361]

this is what dr. handsfield said in 2010


"That said, probably around 90-95% newly infected people would have positive RNA results by 2 weeks, and your result probably would be negative.  This has not been carefully researched, so that's just my estimate.  In other words, for 100% certainty you weren't infected, an antibody test would still be required at 6-8 weeks after exposure.  (With HIV antibody tests currently in standard use, 3 months is old news; you really don't need to wait that long for reliably negative results, especially for a low risk exposure like this one.)"

[jdavis361]

So because i did the rna test 2 week after and the antibody at 37 days ....i will need to wait just to be sure but its unlikely to change...

[Edward W Hook, MD]

The combination of and HIV RNA test and and HIV antibody test together at any time more than 4 weeks after an exposure is equivalent to a combination HIV p24 antigen/HIV antibody combination test and provides conclusive results.  If you test with antibody only tests, the results will not be conclusive until 8 weeks following exposure.  EWH

[jdavis361]

Would you consider this conclusive?

[jdavis361]

Thank you doctor. After I posted I decided to do more research on the forum.....the RNA PCR looks for the actual virus, and the other doctor on here says it would be conclusive along with an antibody test.....I also read that the window period could be from 6weeks-8weeks? Can I test at 6 weeks and move away from this?
Thank you

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to the Forum. Each of these test results, take either together or separately, make it very unlikely that you have acquired HIV but they were not conclusive at the time they were taken.  Tests for HIV antibodies such as the finger prick test are conclusive at 8 weeks following an exposure.  At five weeks they would have detected about 90-95% of recent HIV infections.  

HIV RNA tests are not recommended for HIV diagnosis and while most people have positive RNA tests within a few weeks of acquiring HIV, there are no large studies which provide reliable data on the proportion of infections that would be detected at different time points after exposure.  EWH