Question
How can an 11 year old child test positive but the mother is negative?
18 August 2021. Related: All topics, HIV testing, Pregnancy.
I know of an 11 year old boy who tested positive yesterday, but the mother tested negative today. How come the babe test positive and the mother tested negative? How and what happened?
Answer
Hi there
It is also difficult to interpret test results – especially with such limited details.
One option might be that either the boy of the mothers test are an error and to repeat these.
This is the most important first step – it could just be a lab error.
Another possibility is, if the child was breastfed as a baby by someone who was HIV positive (maybe without realising this).
Or possibly that as a child he caught HIV from a vaccination or medical procedure and needed blood. This is rare but worth checking.
In even more rare cases transmission might be possible from the father. This might be a cause if the father was HIV positive,
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