Q and A

Question

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

15 January 2018. Related: All topics, HIV testing.

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

Answer: Simon Collins

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 Raymond,

    Please see Q’s 1 and 8 here:

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

  2. Raymond •

    I had affair with a lady …we had sex within 2 months which jan 29 to march10 or so…
    on april, she came to tell me she’s Hiv positive and I should get tested..
    she brought me a test usb kit dat we tested and it read “c”… which meant negative on thr first response test card..

    went to a hospital and it’s lab tested me once more and it read negative ….

    I’m still wondering if I’m safe

    I wanna get tested once more

    any help and advice. …. wanted to get prophylaxis drug

  3. Lisa Thorley •

    Hi Loretta,

    He’ll need to ask his clinic, they should be able to tell him.

  4. Loretta •

    Yes my husband is on ARV treatment from October 2015 so how and where can he go to test if is viral load is undetectable? Thanks in advance Loretta

  5. Lisa Thorley •

    Hi Loretta,

    Is your husband on treatment? If he is and his viral load is undetectable then the risk of him transmitting HIV to you is close to zero. And this is when having sex without a condom. For more info please see here:

    http://i-base.info/qa-on-the-partner-study/

    With regards to condoms, if you choose to use them, then they need to be used correctly. However, as you’ve seen accidents can and do happen.

  6. Loretta •

    My husband tested positive in 2015 but I rested negative it’s still very hard to come to terms with that situation. We tried using condoms and the condom burst I went to the doctor and he put me on PREP for a month after the month I still tested negative. It’s almost one year since we’ve been intimate I’m so so scared to use condoms because of that one bad experience the problem is that we’re not used to the use of condoms and my husband got infected accidentally hence the type of work he does so for us condoms was never part of our marriage. Please educate me on the use of condoms and please let me know if it’s safe.
    Thanks in advance

  7. Lisa Thorley •

    Hi Lella,

    Please see Q’s 1 and 8 here:

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

  8. Lellasreekanthreddy •

    In my blood test I get v.d.r.l positive “reactive ” what does this mean?

  9. Lisa Thorley •

    Hi David,

    Other than the HIV tests have you had your viral load tested? If you haven’t you could ask for this to be tested. Also what type of HIV tests have you had done?

  10. David •

    I’ve tested positive once, and negative twice, am I positive?