21
Sep 20
False Negatives and sticky antibodies
Hello The post from Gary (in the thread about Test Sensitivity) seems to suggest that sticky antibodies do have a role in false negatives or am I reading this wrong? Here is Gary’s post in that thread:- ………. Hi BigQ I hope that I can help to clarify. There are a number of reasons why someone might get a false negative test result. The BioSURE HIV Self Test detects a person’s antibodies rather than the virus itself. One of the most likely causes of a false negative is that the person has produced a low level of antibodies when tested. This itself can be caused by a number of things: taking PEP or PrEP can delay antibody creation or the person maybe in the early stages of antibody creation, for example. Another possible cause is the “stickiness” of a person’s antibodies. Whilst all antibodies are similar the antibodies produced slightly different between people. Rapid tests are generally just not as accurate as large, laboratory instruments. Unfortunately few diagnostics are perfect. The BioSURE HIV Self Test has been developed and tested to ensure that it is very accurate. I hope that this helps to answer your question. Kind regards Gary Carpenter BioSure (UK) Limited