i have an important question my teacher doctor cannot give me an answer?

Question

It different websites it says average time for detaction is 24 days

95% will be detcted after 6 wks .....okay except for people with immune disorders so why do we adopt the 6 months .....

there are various test which actually test for the actual virus antigen or antibody ....someone pls clarify

this is about HIV .

Answer 1

Hello,

The avaerage time is 22-24 days, most antibodies would be detected in say 4 weeks after exposure ....In some paper in New york it states so.

Some experts recommend testing after 6 weeks after exposure. You are some what right the only reason why doctors adopt the 3 months waiting is becasue some people do not show antibodies because of

1. Immune disorders
2.Chemotheraphy
3.IDU

P24 antigen test for the antigen which appears first in comparison tot he antibodies.

PCR actually test for the hiv

There is also an improtant factor which ultimately determines your waiting time, it depends if it is a high risk or not, but from my perspective it should be treated the same.

P24 test and pcr test should be used earlier....but some private doctors still use p24 test until 10 weeks.

After 6 weeks it is conclusive, but confirmatory test are always advisable.

It takes several years for the symtpoms to show up , not the virus.

Bye

Answer 2

Everyone has some good points so I will not bother repeating them. Summary, It is not easy to detect and lab results can give false positives and false negatives. The virus needs time to replicate itself and only after six months all types of virus have time to do that. CD counts are not conclusive, because they can double count for low immunity. You can start to paint the picture why its so obscure to come to a final answer any more quick than it does. Have patience and you will get a truthful diagnosis.

Answer 3

Testing is usually done again at 6 months to insure that a negative response is really negative and that HIV has not developed in the meantime. Also , a positive response will usually require a follow-up with further testig to determine whether a person truly is positive, and to determine viral load, t-cell counts,etc. Follow-up testing is also done for anyone being treated for HIV to titrate medications and determine their effectiveness.
Lynne,RN

Answer 4

don't believe a website necessarily as fact, ask a doctor

HIV testing is weird. because of the nature of the virus itself, testing can be unreliable at first. testing for viral antigen isn't effective early on, and depending on the person, it COULD possibly take weeks to develop antibody.

For 100% reliability, I would say three tests can confirm a negative HIV test, one at one month, one at six months, and then one a year later, just to be thorough.

Answer 5

I would think that 6 months has been adopted as the general standard because every documented exposure has been detected within 6 months in both real and clinical settings.

Answer 6

Tests are not perfect, labs that do the tests are not perfect. Therefore, they suggest tests be done at 6 month intervals. Those tests are generally and almost absolutely accurate.

Answer 7

The doctor should tell you the truth unless not competent.