Hey all, first of all : i tried to find answers to this but i found only old ones and with different situations. anyway:
is there any point to do 4th generation hiv test (ag/ab) after 10 days from the event? my plan was to do 10 days after to calm my stress and then 25 days after but i see many claim 10 days window worth almost to nothing. i will be glad if somone here could guide me? thanks.
It isn't totally worthless, but it's not far off being worthless. It *could* potentially pick up antigens, if any had developed, but it could be up to 2 weeks before they form. If you decided to take PEP, then any test you take while on PEP is useless.
Wait at least a month post-event (or post-PEP) before testing. Otherwise, you're really not getting much from the test except slight peace of mind - but it won't be conclusive.
thank you for your answer, also, just a quick question : what's the chance of getting false positive in 4TH gen? can early test cause that? what can actually cause that?
False positives are very low, but they can happen. In that instance, a follow-up test would be performed. Testing early doesn't cause false positives - it's just a fluke due to the high sensitivity of the tests.
Wait at least a month post-event (or post-PEP) before testing. Otherwise, you're really not getting much from the test except slight peace of mind - but it won't be conclusive.