Question

Does a non-reactive test after 6 months mean I am HIV negative?

25 March 2008. Related: All topics, HIV transmission.

i had sexual exposure in august 2007. i went for antibody test at the end of three month and the result was non-reactive.

i went for antibody test at the end of six month and the result was non-reactive again.

After the incident in august2007 i have not involved myself in any risky behaviour .
is this result reliable enough to consider myself hiv negative. do i need further testing?

Answer

Answer: Simon Collins

Non-reactive 6 months after exposure means that you are HIV negative.

You do not need another test.

Ple\se see this link for more info:
https://i-base.info/qa/11844

176 comments

  1. Josh Peasegood •

    Hi Stephen, for a result to be conclusive you need to be off treatment for a minimum of 6 weeks from the point of exposure. In this case it is very likely that you are HIV negative given that you started treatment later than 3 days after exposure AND it has now been six months.

    For this reason you have no reason to think that you are not HIV negative. It is still best to confirm this result with a 4th generation test from 6 weeks after the last dose of ART.

  2. Stephen •

    So I was exposed to a confirmed HIV person, I confirmed the status after 5 days and started ART immediately (I know this is wrong) and he is not adhering to treatment. However, I had seroconversion symptoms after 28 days of exposure, so I assumed to be positive and continued ART, however, I recently got an antibody test after 6 months of exposure which read negative. I ve stopped the ART. Do I have to worry?

  3. Josh Peasegood •

    Hi Berzel, your HIV test results are conclusive. You do not have HIV and you are not required to do any further tests. Please speak to your doctor about investigations and management for other possible causes of your symptoms.

    More information about testing and transmission can be found here: https://i-base.info/qa/factsheets/hiv-transmission-and-testing

  4. Berzel •

    Help guess I’m stressed right now I had sex with someone 6 months ago..after 2 weeks of having sex I had some itching and discharge on my penis I went to see doctor she gave me some antibiotics and 5 days all symptoms was gone after 2 months I started having lymph nodes, headaches, mouth ulcers and fatigue.. I tested for hiv 5 times all was negative the last test I had after 6 months is also negative…but I’m still experiencing these symptoms…

  5. Josh Peasegood •

    Hi S, your results are conclusive. As you last had sex 7 months ago and have recently tested for HIV your status is confirmed and you do not have HIV.

    For information about testing and transmission please see here: https://i-base.info/qa/factsheets/hiv-transmission-and-testing

    How is your partner doing? Have they now started treatment?

    As your partner adjusts to being on treatment and living with HIV, using a condom will prevent any risk of HIV transmission. When they have a viral load below 200/undetectable it will be impossible to pass on HIV via sex and you will no longer require a condom. This is called U=U.

    U=U: https://i-base.info/u-equals-u/

  6. S •

    Hi. I recently found out that my partner is HIV positive, however, I have been testing for the past four years since we started dating, I always teat 3 times a year,

    We lastly had sex 7 months ago, then she tested positive few weeks ago.

    I am a blood donor and I donated blood 3 months ago they said I am negative, I have done 5 HIV tests last week and they came back negative also. What does this mean, I believe I am out of the window period so these results are conclusive.

    Should I keep on testing again?
    My last exposure was 7 months ago.

  7. Josh Peasegood •

    Hi Cavin, you do not need a test. Your result is conclusive, you do not have HIV.

    As your partner is undetectable, it is impossible to pass on HIV via sex. This is called U=U: https://i-base.info/u-equals-u/

    For more information about testing and transmission see here: https://i-base.info/qa/factsheets/hiv-transmission-and-testing

  8. cavin •

    i was done sex with someone on aug 2023 with condom but my condom is fell out for short time. my partner have undetectable viral load since 20 years and i did my HIV test 18 jan 2024 it was my first test and its negative now i want to know do i need more test and do i need to took any medicine.

  9. Josh Peasegood •

    Hi Anonim123, your test results are conclusive. You do not have HIV and do not require any further tests.

    Please see here for more information: https://i-base.info/qa/factsheets/hiv-transmission-and-testing

  10. Anonim123 •

    Hey.
    I had unprotected sex in November 2023.
    I tested with Autotest VIH first in April, than in June and third time at Jule and all of them were non reactive.
    Than I tested at laboratory (not 100% if it was 4gen or maybe 3gen) in the end of August, 9 months after exposure and it was NON REACTIVE.

    Can I stop test and just believe the results? How accurate are them?

    Thank you…