Hi Charlie, if the symptoms you had were linked to HIV/sero conversion then 7 days after these begin you would have received a positive result however you cannot say that these symptoms were a cause of sero conversion. Because of how immune systems work, people produce these at different times and rates after contracting the virus. Most people have made these antibodies by 4 weeks but some people can produce them as late as 12 weeks later. This is why we say a negative result cannot be relied upon within this period and it is recommended to test again at 3 months after exposure. A positive test result can always be relied upon as it means antibodies to HIV have been detected. If you would like me to have a look at your test or you would like to contact me further please feel free to email me (fbard@biosure.co.uk). Kindest regards Francesca Bard, BioSure (UK) Ltd

Hi I recently may have had exposure to hiv in low risk situation. I had what I thought to be seroconversion symptoms. So I tested two days into the symptom stage at 22 days but was told to test 7 days after the symptoms had started to get an accurate result. Is this correct? All the symptoms have gone now, some of which I were think due to stress if me thinking I had contracted the virus. Anyway I tested and it was negative. Did the test exactly according to instructions including waiting precisely 15 mins. Well even longer if I'm honest. I checked the result an hour later and it looked like a blob of blood had gathered around where the positive line bit was. There was no line it just looked liked blood had gathered around that area. Is this normal?

Hi Charlie. In regards to the question of symptoms the test would be accurate about 7 days after the onset of seroconversion symptoms, regardless of the time since infection. The BioSURE HIV Self Test detects your antibodies to HIV as opposed to the virus itself. The early symptoms of HIV seroconversion are caused by the body creating antibodies to the virus. I hope that this helps your understanding. Kindest regards Francesca Bard, BioSure (UK) Ltd