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HIV Prevention (Expert Forum)
Chance of detection at five weeks exposure?
Answered by
Edward W Hook, MD - HIV Prevention, stds
Chance of detection at five weeks exposure?
by totallyfoolish, Mar 13, 2008 11:25AM
Dear Dr , please could you address the following points for me.
1- How successful are HIV tests five weeks post exposure?
2- I have been suffering a variety of similar symptoms to ASR for a month but have not had a fever. Would this be an unusual situation relating to length of time and lack of fever?
3- Is HIV rash sometimes manifested on the tops of hands?
Thank you for your time and patience , as I m sure you ve heard this many times previous.
1- How successful are HIV tests five weeks post exposure?
2- I have been suffering a variety of similar symptoms to ASR for a month but have not had a fever. Would this be an unusual situation relating to length of time and lack of fever?
3- Is HIV rash sometimes manifested on the tops of hands?
Thank you for your time and patience , as I m sure you ve heard this many times previous.
Doctor's Answer
by Edward W Hook, MD, Mar 13, 2008 05:59PM
, Mar 13, 2008 05:59PMTo: totallyfoolish
Straight to your questions:
1. At five weeks about 90% of tests that are going to become psoitive will be
2. Fever is usually present in the ARS. furthermore, the ARS does not last a month
3. No.
If you are worrying about symptoms, you are wasting your time. the ARS symptoms are mimicked by the symptoms of enumerable viral infections (the flu, colds, etc) which are far, far more common than the ARS. EWH
1. At five weeks about 90% of tests that are going to become psoitive will be
2. Fever is usually present in the ARS. furthermore, the ARS does not last a month
3. No.
If you are worrying about symptoms, you are wasting your time. the ARS symptoms are mimicked by the symptoms of enumerable viral infections (the flu, colds, etc) which are far, far more common than the ARS. EWH
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Most HIV tests are antibody tests that measure the antibodies your body makes against HIV. It can take some time for the immune system to produce enough antibodies for the antibody test to detect, and this time period can vary from person to person. This time period is commonly referred to as the “window period.” Most people will develop detectable antibodies within 2 to 8 weeks (the average is 25 days). Even so, there is a chance that some individuals will take longer to develop detectable antibodies. Therefore, if the initial negative HIV test was conducted within the first 3 months after possible exposure, repeat testing should be considered >3 months after the exposure occurred to account for the possibility of a false-negative result. Ninety-seven percent of persons will develop antibodies in the first 3 months following the time of their infection. In very rare cases, it can take up to 6 months to develop antibodies to HIV.
Another type of test is an RNA test, which detects the HIV virus directly. The time between HIV infection and RNA detection is 9–11 days. These tests, which are more costly and used less often than antibody tests, are used in some parts of the United States.
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/testing/resources/qa/be_tested.htm#wait