HIV duo test - possibility of false positives?

Hello everyone,

I know perfectly well that all the tests prior to 3 months after exposure are not conclusive. And if i get a negative result from HIV duo test after a month and a half, that does not mean anything as false negatives are not rare and I need to retest at 3 months. Right?  However, my question is: what do I do if I get a positive result from this duo test at one and a half month after exposure? Or in a simplest manner of speaking: could this test give a false positive or only false negative?

I would like to know as I can't decide on whether it is worth to get tested soon (over a month past exposure).If false positives are possible, then I see this as completely useless.


Thank you very much!

[Vance2335]

If a confirmation test is done at 6 weeks all it does is show that your result at that time was a false positive. A 3 month test would still have to be done.

If you get a positive at 6 weeks and positive confirmation test then it would be likely that you have HIV, but not definate.

Testing is complicated these days with antigen tests and antibody tests and confirmation tests. I find it better to keep it simple. 3 month antibody test.

[Vance2335]

False positives happen at 1 week to 12 weeks and beyond. There are confirmation tests done after you have a positive antibody test. So with the duo a positive test does not mean you have HIV.

[neismanele]

ok, so it actually is completely pointless. seriously, why does such a atest even exist? What could be one reason for me to do that test?

Also, I'm just generally interested as in how do false positives manage to happen? How can antigens of HIV be detected if there is none?

And also, so even when you do a test in 3 months, you still need to get some confirmatory test?

[Vance2335]

At 3 months when you do an antibody test if positive then a confirmation test is run to make sure it was not a false positive. I can list 20-30 known causes for false positives so this is why confirmation is needed.

Antigens are different and have a specific time frame which they can be detected, so this is a reason why the antigen test is not a stand alone test.

Testing early with an antigen test just helps with early detection so that person can notify others and can practice safe sex with existing partners or new partners.

[neismanele]

wait, so you mean that I can get a confirmatory test after I get a positive result from this test after 6 weeks? So is that confirmatory test reliable and conclusive? So if I have positive from duo and then confirmatory test positive as well although its not 3 months after exposure yet, it id for definite (or at least maybe very likely) that I have hiv?
Or is that confirmatory test available only after 3 months?

Sorry for all this, but I'm really confused.

[Vance2335]

If a confirmation test is done at 6 weeks all it does is show that your result at that time was a false positive. A 3 month test would still have to be done.

If you get a positive at 6 weeks and positive confirmation test then it would be likely that you have HIV, but not definate.

Testing is complicated these days with antigen tests and antibody tests and confirmation tests. I find it better to keep it simple. 3 month antibody test.

[neismanele]

im sorry I published my last post before I saw you already answered the one I was trying to explain better.

Anyway, so just confirm I understand correctly: I get duo test positive afte 6 weeks. Then they do a confirmatory test straigth after (not after 3 months) and that prooves i do indeed have hiv and thats conclusive?

And also is there any other name or sth for confirmatory test or a way to explain how does it work. I'm in a country now where doctors usually don't understand what I'm asking and from when I talked with them I understood that they do not have a confirmatory test as they just said that after duo test ill need to retes after 3 months , so there's no point.


many many thanks again.

[neismanele]

ok, thanks a lot.
I'll ask doctors here if they do a confirmatory test. If not I'll have to wait until I get to UK or as u said just to wait 3 months to make it simple.

Thanks for your patience!

[Vance2335]

No a confirmation test at 6 weeks will not guarantee that you have HIV. Likely that you do but not a guarantee.

If they tell you to retest at 3 months then no need to take a test sooner. 3 months is standard and conclusive.