Elisa & Western blot

[wayne_richie]

Hello,

Five years ago I had unprotected anal sex with another man, he didn't ***. A little bit more than six months after the encounter I went for HIV testing and i got a call from the doctor saying I had tested positive twice on the Elisa test. Then he said he was going to have the Western Blot test run. The Western Blot test came back negative. I have looked up the reasons for false positive Elisas online and found a huge list of possible causes. The only thing is I don't seem to fit into any of the categories mentionned to cause the false positive results. The other strange thing is my dad went to donate blood and he tested positive on the Elisa twice and negative on the Western Blot.  Granted he does have arthritis which is a possible cause of a false positive Elisa. I have several allergies, had a ruptured spleen when I was younger, am a 23 year old male. Also, about 14 months after the exposure I was diagnosed with mono, which lasted for a month or so. I know that swollen lymph nodes are a possible symptom.

Can I rely on the Western Blot since it was done after the six month block? Why would I get two positive Elisa tests? I just don't understand why it would be wrong two times.

The other question is, is there any relation between my dad testing false positive twice and me testing false positive twice on the elisas?

[chrisneedshelp]

yes your testing was conclusive you do not have HIV

[wayne_richie]

So, I should be confident that at the time of testing I was hiv -?

[regularjoey]

Some people just test positive on HIV ELISAs.  That test is designed to have the highest possible sensitivity, which naturally comes at a cost of giving false positive results sometimes.  You just have some unrelated antibodies that cross-react to the peptides used in the ELISA, that's all.

The fact that your dad tests the same way suggests that there may be a genetic issue.  I've never heard of such things, but it is possible.

[wayne_richie]

Can you please comment as well? I would really appreciate it.

[peekawho]

Sometimes they never know why people test positive on the Elisa and neg on the WB.  

The important thing to think about is that you are negative.  Period.  

[wayne_richie]

Can somebody please help?

[wayne_richie]

I forgot to say that during the window period, from the time of exposure to the time of testing, I had no sexual activity. I only had anal sex or any kind of relationship with this man once.  Also, since the test I have only had protected sex with women.

Thanks