Afraid of being infected
Hi, I have sexual relations about a month ago, I used a condom. It was casual sex so I didnt know the person very well. In this situation I am always a bit scared. Anyways I didnt do the quick test that has a detection window between the 12th and 24th of infection, to have reliable results, according to the place that does these tests. I decided to do blook work after one month, to stop worrying. My question is, does blood results are good enough to make sure i dont have hiv or do I have to do more tests later because there still a risk of having Hiv. I am a bit scared of false positives and i dont the difference of quick tests and blood work , when it comes to the time of the anticorps appearing in your system. Thanks!
I'm glad you reached out. The first step is to try to determine if you were at risk for transmission, and this article has a great list of factors that helps to dispell myths about HIV and how it is transmitted: https://h-i-v.net/diagnosis-testing. The fact that you used a condom, do not have reason to suspect this person was living with HIV and (if they are) have a detectable viral load (more on that here: https://h-i-v.net/living/undetectable-untransmittable), and you didn't mention any unexplained symptoms are all good signs.
To answer your question though, I believe you are referring to what is called the "window period" after possible exposure where you may not be able to determine a conclusive result and could possibly receive a false negative. HIV tests taken 6 months after a potential exposure are 99.9 percent accurate. If your HIV tests were taken 6 months post-exposure, you can trust the results. Typically, people may experience an incorrect result if an HIV test is taken within the first 2 months of a possible exposure; this period of time is called the "window period". However, outside window period, false-negative are rare with HIV test. For more information, see here: https://www.aidsmap.com/about-hiv/false-negative-results-hiv-testsI hope this gives you some more information about what to expect. Definitely keep us posted on how you are doing and good luck.
Best,
Liz (Team Member)
Alafia (Peace) We really appreciate you trusting us enough to reach out and sharing your experience and ask your question. In my experience blood tests are very good. I would suggest that you get tested again to calm your nerves. Khafre (H-I-V.net Team Member)
