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. Lisa Thorley

    Hi Siva,

    Please see Q’s 1 and 8 here:

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

  2. Siva

    I had sex with one lady in December 2016. I’ve just tested. The result was non-reactive, is this OK?

  3. Lisa Thorley

    Hi Samtha,

    Please see Q’s 1 and 8 here:

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

  4. Samtha

    Myself 3month pregnant women, My CMIA Test is Reactive 2.52 , And HIV split Duo is negative , so please can you guide me If I am HIV Positive as per CMIA so what are the chances of Western Blot to be negative. Please help me i am not able to get any idea. please please

  5. Lisa Thorley

    Hi Dablu,

    Please see Q’s 1 and 8 here:

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

  6. Dablu

    I have had sex with a married lady after 2 month of having sex with her i got tested myself .. in report my hiv combo was 0.033 (negative ) i want to know may my report is normal or not ..

  7. Lisa Thorley

    Hi Rity,

    HIV and Hepatitis B are both very different health conditions. Therefore, yes someone can test negative for Hep B, but positive for HIV. For more about testing, please see here:

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

  8. Rity

    Hi can someone test negative for hepatitis B but positive for HIV

  9. John

    You should be tested for HIV three months after supposed exposure. If you believe you may have contracted HIV and it is very early on (within a few days) you may go to the ER to have an HIV test performed. If it is negative you may be offered a retroviral drug that may prevent you from contracting HIV.

  10. Lisa Thorley

    Hi Faisal,

    Please see questions 1 and 8 here:

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