Q and A

Question

Does ‘non-reactive’ mean I am HIV negative?

I am 24 years old. I had sex 9 months ago with my boyfriend and I am now going to get married to someone else. I was afraid of getting HIV, so I got myself tested at Ranbaxy laboratory Amritsar after 8 months, and the result was non reactive.

They performed rapid card test, but know i fear that they had used an already used syringe. They used the vaccum system to collect my blood sample. please tell me whether the this type of syringe can be reused and am i infected with HIV or is it just my fear?

Answer

Non-reactive means the result is HIV negative.

However the blood was collected, you are still HIV negative. Ranbaxy labs would not re-use syringes.

Please see Questions 1 and 8 at this link for more information.

This answer was updated in January 2018 from an original Q&A posted in August 2007.

155 comments

  1. Faisal

    Dear Sir

    I have done an unprotected sex with someone and after 3 weeks tested for HIV. The result was non-reactive for Anti HIV 1 & 2.

    Test was done about 1.5 Month earlier. Now I want to confirm that is there any need to have any further test for HIV or there is no need of any other test.

    Regards

  2. Lisa Thorley

    Hi Jamal,

    Unless you’ve injected drugs there’s no need to get tested.

  3. Jamal

    I haven’t had sex in ten years; I was tested negative in 2007. Should I get tested again? Or is that test still good?

  4. Lisa Thorley

    Hi Joevitia,

    Please see question 8 here:

    https://i-base.info/qa/what-are-the-most-asked-questions

  5. Joevitia

    I got myself tested my result was reactive does it mean am positive

  6. Simon Collins

    Hi Dhanalakshmi. This website is for people who are HIV positive. If you only have hepatitis B and not HIV, then please talk to your doctor. If you stop taking hepatitis B meds, the hepatitis can become worse and become very serious.Sometimes hepatitis B is curable, but only for a small percentage of people.

  7. dhanalakshmi

    hello sir. 5 years back I tested hbsag positive. so I took treatment 1year bt I cant continue. before treatment feb2012 hbv viral load 21000 iu/ml. then aug 2014 viral load 4100 iu/ml. and oct2015 hbv viral load 219 iu/ml only. is this curable sir. is this possible to change hbsag negative sir. pls replay

  8. Lisa Thorley

    Hi Babu,

    Please see question one here:

    https://i-base.info/qa/what-are-the-most-asked-questions

  9. Babu

    I paid for sex with a call girl. After 5 days I checked my blood (after 5 days) and the result is Non-reactive it means I am HIV negative that is clear. What I want to know though is, “how long does it take to show the true result”. Or I will have to recheck my blood after some days?

  10. Lisa Thorley

    Hi Suvash,

    For information on testing please see question one here:
    https://i-base.info/qa/what-are-the-most-asked-questions