Teak

[bamboosalt]

hello, Teak, please give me some information if you are free.

1. if someone currently experiences ARS, at the same time the antibody will show up and ELISA test can detect it in lab ? or must wait for a few days --weeks for enough antibody to be detected after ARS?

2. A healthy perosn after infected, he or she can have antibody much sooner than an unhealthy peron? i guess antibody means something protect your body from Virus, so healthy guys 's window period would be shorter ?

3. standard window period is 23 days , the info given on website. does it mean the time for ARS to occur or ARS already gone?

[bamboosalt]

hi, teak, i really like to see your replys, cos i think you are an expert in this support forum.

i will get a test tomorrow at 7 weeks mark, i guess quite reliable for the antibody show up.

i just read an article in UK HIV site. shows antibody will be detectable during window period illness mostly, and might be some after the illness. cos average time for this period is about 23 days or 28 days according toi the studies. let 's say 4 weeks mark is a nice time to have an antibody test.

do you aggree with my comments?

[ainxtein]

Bamboo, you only get a handjob. David, you tested neg after window period.

What did I do? I had sex with a HIV+ woman and condom slipped off!! You are so lucky and don't think about HIV any more!

[strata]

There have been and will continue to be few studies on the window period for HIV. From an immunologic and epidemiologic standpoint, nailing down the window period further (virtually 100% will test positive by 3 months, except in rare exceptions related to HCV, PEP, etc.) is not all that important.

One of the few studies I've seen is here:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=cache:h65fE0G9mPAJ:www.jaids.com/pt/re/jaids/fulltext.00126334-200412010-00013.htm+author:Vanhems+author:Voirin+author:Philippe+author:Hirschel+author:Brassard+author:Carr+author:Cooper+author:Perrin+author:All

It will vary by patient and HIV strain whether the patient will have detectable antibodies before or during ARS. In some cases cases the ELISA / Western Blot will be indeterminate, indicating potential seroconversion. However, without antiretroviral therapy, the amelioration of ARS symptoms is associated with an effective - and likely detectable - antibody response.

[Teak]

ARS, if it happens at all, will be two-four weeks after infection. Testing before 13 weeks, after having a REAL risk may result in a false negative due to the body not having had enough time for achieving enough antibodies for a test to pick up. That is the reason for the 13 week conclusive test. You can test with a P24 or a PCR RNA test before hand but they are not stand alone tests and have to confirmed by an antibody test again at 13 weeks.

[Teak]

I'll stick to my answers from an ID specialist vers. someone in Internal Medicine when it comes to HIV.

[bamboosalt]

http://ww2.aegis.org/askdoc/ASKD040212.html

[bamboosalt]

hi, teak, are you Rapidrod from pozforum?

[davidblaine]

yeh, i wanna know those too.

Also, teak check this:

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/HIVSupport/messages/1054.html