Sep
I took my test today(Negative of course)
But I overheard 2 guys talking each other about when to take the test and one guy said you can take it within three months and the other guy said 6 months to rule it out but I talk 2 the person the health official and the health official said that antibodies can be presented in 3 to 6 weeks very rarely does it get 2 six months that wat I was told can someone educate me more on this?
Answer:
Most of the people generate antibodies by 6-8 weeks and it is very unlikely that a negative result at 6-8 weeks becomes positive. But this isn’t conclusive. HIV test is considered conclusive after 3 months. So if you tested negative around 6-8 weeks, it is a very good indication that you are not infected but guideline states you’ve to confirm it with a 3 months conclusive test.
Your health official is right. In a vary rare cases, the antibodies show up later in the system. These are the cases where the immune system of the person is weak (ie. heavy drug user, chemotherapy for cancer treatment, using anti-rejection drugs for organ transplant). Some physicians are being conservatives about this and suggest to test again at 6 months (JUST IN CASE). But if you test at 3 months and it is negative, you can consider yourself negative and move on with your life.
Answer:
well its best to test 3 months from the possible exposure of hiv it will should pop up at least in 3 months in rare cases it will show in 6 months if you got tested in the 3month since possible exposure got back another 3 months later if negative again then ur negative
Answer:
after 3 months, a blood test is 98% accurate and after 6 its even superior. under 3 months leaves room for error, so as long as it has for sure been 3 months, you should be fine.
Answer:
I’ve the same issues and I’ve been spending money like crazy each two weeks. I went to an HIV specialist Doctor ( who has been active in the HIV research and is treating HIV/AIDS patients). He told me that HIV antigens ( i.e the positive or negative result indicators) show up after 2 months of exposure(infection) to the virus. He even ruled out the 3 month thing. But again he has been in the HIV/AIDS field since 1985. He added the 2 months was confirmed with research done on drug users. Since they inject it once and know the exact day. But as for sexual case it can be difficult for some people to remember the exact day of their last sexual contact.
But there seems to be some ambiguity in that matter. One reason is that other medical conditions like HEP C, cancer and other immune related illnesses could delay HIV antigen production. According to the HIV specialist , if you’re a normal healthy person, i.e without the problems I mentioned above, it takes 2 months to develop HIV antigen after a possible exposure to the virus. That is ofcourse if you have no other sexual or blood contact within those 2 months.
The only cases where I read delayed HIV antigen production is in case of 3 health care workers who were coinfected with HEP C virus. I think that related to the reasoning above. But to make sure I would consider the 6 months test. Followed by a 12 months test. Atleast that’s what I am planning to do.