Gary - can you seroconvert after 3 months after exposure?

thanks Gary you are the best. Regards

Hi Ginger Me A negative antibody test at 113 days post-exposure will be conclusive and reliable. It takes a long time (more than 5 years) for HIV to do any damage to your immune system. Many people experience very mild flu-like symptoms when their bodies are creating antibodies to HIV. But these symptoms do not last longer than a couple of weeks. But importantly if you had experienced these symptoms this means you have made antibodies and a test for HIV would be positive. So, in your case, you know that a negative test result would be conclusive. I would not try to give any advice on your dermatological symptoms. My suggestion is that it is worth going to see your doctor about them, but I am certain that these symptoms have nothing to do with HIV. I hope that this helps. Kind regards Gary

I repeated my test again 113 days post exposure with a venous blood which came back non reactive to rdt antibody test again. my concern now is can i say my test is conclusive? 2. why do I still have dermatological changes and oral trash that has lasted about 2 months?

Hi Ginger Me I'm sorry that I couldn't help anymore with my first answer. It is difficult to draw any concrete conclusions when I do not have a complete picture of the tests that you have had. As I said all negative HIV tests are encouraging. But I don't know what the ELISA test was so difficult to draw any absolute conclusions from this. If it was 4th generation (antibody and p24 antigen) then the result would be reliable at 32 days. However, if it is antibody only, just like the First Response test, then it isn't conclusive. The reason is not so much to do with the tests but with the individual person taking the test. The problem is that people make antibodies to HIV at quite different times: some at 24 days, but some not until 12 weeks after exposure. The problem is that a late seroconverting person cannot test positive until the antibodies are there, regardless of how sensitive the test looking for them is. So to be absolutely sure, if your ELISA test was antibody only, you would need to test again 12 weeks after exposure. At 55 days after infection, just slightly more than 95% of people will have made the antibodies. I'm really sorry that I can't clear this up completely for you, but I really hope that this helps. Kindest regards Gary

My Elisa was at 32 days post exposure. Then my first response rdt (which happens to be CE marked according to a WHO report) at day 55. I also had my exposure from an positive client while I was removing her iv catheter but she claims to have been on medication through her pregnancy. How accurate is my result, considering I have tested negative 5 times since the 3rd week post exposure?

Hi Ginger Me Thanks for getting in touch. A couple of things: All negative HIV test results are extremely encouraging. A negative ELISA test at 5 weeks is extremely encouraging, Unfortunately I do not know enough about the First Response test and couldn't tell you if it was even CE marked. What I can say is that if you have had early seroconversion symptoms for two weeks, if you did a BioSURE HIV Self Test now a negative result would be conclusive, regardless of the time from known possible exposure. The seroconversion symptoms are caused by the body creating the antibodies that the BioSURE HIV Self Test looks for. But finally regardless of the outcome testing is the right thing to do. HIV is now a completely treatable condition. Treatment regimens are simple and incredibly effective. I hope that this helps. Kind regards Gary Carpenter BioSure (UK) Limited