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Types of HIV and does it all show up during testing?

After doing some research, i realized that HIV is have two major types HIV 1 and HIV 2 and under HIV 1, there are many subgroups of HIV.  I was wondering does standard testing detect all of the types of HIV or is it limited to the most common ones?
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Avatar universal
Thank you very much for all your information and replys and i hope to god that you are right and i can move out of my HIV anxiety and move on my normal life.  I really want to return to my normal life but HIV is always on my mind so i just want to get an accurate test result to let me move on.  
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We're done with this discussion. I advised you that we use ELISA tests which detect all known types and groups.
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Thanks for replying once again but the problem with this is many people didn't have risk from other places not where they get tested.  For example, If one person goes to China and gets HIV, does test in US/CA test for all the subtypes which include the ones from China?
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No that is incorrect information. The test you take in the area of the country you are testing will test for all known subtypes in that area.
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im sorry that my opinion sound stupid but i am just worried about HIV and not many people who i can get in touch with knows more in-depth about HIV.  It bugs me that the tests we take might not be the ones that check for the other subtypes and i wonder where i can get the testing that will cover all the HIV subtypes.  
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Why don't you  have open heart surgery too?
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No but i am worried about these other types of HIV because in my opinion, what is the point of testing if the test doesn't test for every kind of the disease? It would just let the rarer types spread faster and more people would get the disease because they can spread the rarer types when tested negative since the test doesn't cover every type of the disease.  
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Have you had unprotected sexual contact with a person from Cameroon or Southwest Africa?
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Teak, i have been reading a pretty reliable looking site http://www.avert.org/hiv-types.htm and on it it said EIA tests which can detect either one or both types of HIV have been available for a number of years. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, current HIV-1 EIAs "can accurately identify infections with nearly all non-B subtypes and many infections with group O HIV subtypes."23 However, because HIV-2 and group O infections are extremely rare in most countries, routine screening programs might not be designed to test for them. Anyone who believes they may have contracted HIV-2, HIV-1 group O or one of the rarer subtypes of group M should seek expert advice.

Rapid tests - which can produce a result in less than an hour - are becoming increasingly popular. Most modern rapid HIV-1 tests are capable of detecting all the major subtypes of group M.24 Rapid tests which can detect HIV-2 are also now available.

Does this mean that the tests we are getting aren't the ones that test for HIV 1 rarer type, group O and HIV 2 since it said seek expert advice?
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How do they know? Research.. There has only been one person diagnosed with P and that is Cameroon and HIV 1 is the most prevalent type of HIV in Africa. HIV 2 is not prevalent anywhere except Southwestern Africa.
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I was in China and what i am concerned about is the tests thats used in china might not test for O, N , P or HIV 2 so by government information O and N or HIV 2 might not be common in china but how can they know if their test might not detect those types?  However, it seems that they also use ELISA but many people said O and N is untestable in china, y is that?
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Canada has most of the same tests as the US. Have you been to Cameroon or Southwest Africa? If not then you don't need to worry about O,N,P or HIV 2.
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thanks for replying teak and does Canada use the same standard test as US which can test for HIV O, N, P and HIV 2?
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NO.
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Sorry to bother you again but just another small question, do you have to request for the test that test for HIV O, N , P and HIV 2 or do the doctors test for them automaticlly and also is this also the case in Canada since this is where i am?
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YES..
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So ELISA can detect every single type of HIV if its tested at 3 month period?
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ELISA is the standard antibody tests.
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THanks for the reply but when you say standard do u mean ELISA and if it is, which generation is it?  Also does this mean if you take standard Antibody tests, there is no HIV type that it can't detect?
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Yes, O,N and P and HIV 2 can be found by Standard Antibody tests.
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From what I read, HIV 2 is not very common at all.  
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Thank you for the fast reply but i read that HIV 2 is not in the standard testing and subtypes of HIV 1 O and N can't be found in standard testing.  This info confuses and freaks me out a bit so i just want to get these things clear.
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