Question
Can someone be HIV negative but an HIV “carrier”?
26 March 2010. Related: All topics.
Answer
No, people are either HIV positive or HIV negative. There is no such thing as a carrier – and the word is not relevant to HIV.
You cannot tell if anyone is HIV positive. The way to know if someone is HIV positive is if they tell you about their status and they have had conclusive evidence from an HIV test.
For more information on testing and transmission please follow this link to the i-Base factsheet.
Hello Likhona and thanks for getting in touch.
No, someone living with HIV will always test positive and will always need to be on medication, so they cannot be a “carrier”, they are actually living with the virus and need to be on treatment.
However, if someone is living with HIV and are on effective treatment (so they have undetectable viral load) they cannot pass on HIV to their sexual partners.
You can read more about this here:
https://i-base.info/u-equals-u/
Can someone be HIV negative but an HIV “carrier”?
Hello Thelma and thanks for getting in touch.
Yes that is possible in the first months and depending on the test that has been used.
Or if the specific test is not accurate – that is called false negative.
That’s why we always have 2 different tests after a reactive test – to confirm the diagnosis.
You can read more here: https://i-base.info/guides/testing/test-accuracy-results-and-further-testing