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Possible false postive on hiv test?
I get tested every 6 months for any and every possible std out there. I dont do any type of drugs. Ive been with my fiancé for over a year and I've only been with him and vice versa for this over a year period. I got tested in January and everything was negative. I just found out I'm pregnant after a miscarriage in November so when I got my testing done today my hiv 1&2 were "preliminary positive" and my hiv p24 ( i think thats what it was called) was negative. Ive never been exposed in any way shape or form. Should I be scared that I actually have hiv? I dont have any symptoms and no one will talk to me till my doctor gets back.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi there - you definitely had a false positive. Pregnancy is known to cause false positives. The P24 is a confirmation test, and since that was negative, you definitely don't have HIV.
2 Comments
Thank you! I barely slept last night because of it and everything I read on the internet contradicted itself and I know it’s manageable but it’s definitely not something I’d ever get use to having that definitely eased my anxiety since my doctor still isn’t in today and so therefore no one would talk to me, do you think something else could’ve caused the false positive?
False positives just happen sometimes due to the highly sensitive nature of the test. It errs on the side of false positives rather than false negatives. False results are exactly the reason for confirmatory tests - if you had tested truly positive on your standard antibody test, the P24 antigen would have been detectable. Since it was not, you absolutely don't have HIV.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Excuse me - I wasn't 100% focused here. The P24 is an antigen detection test, which would detect a fairly new infection, not a long-existing infection. The doctor may order a follow-up RNA test, but it will be negative since you haven't had a risk for HIV, and you test regularly.
This is definitely a false positive, and I wouldn't be concerned about it at all.
This is definitely a false positive, and I wouldn't be concerned about it at all.
2 Comments
Ok so I just had a thought, my fiancé I don’t think he’s ever been tested. He’s practiced safe sex with other girls but he was adopted and his bio mom was a drug addict what if she had it and he ended up being born with it and initially gave it to me even if I was negative back in January
If your fiance had been born with HIV and wasn't on medication, he'd be dead by now.
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