HIV testing

An HIV test is usually done on a sample of your blood. HIV tests these days look for two signs of infection:

• 'antibodies' to the virus (our bodies make antibodies to fight infections).
• 'antigen' - this is part of the HIV virus. It can be found in the blood of people who have picked up HIV in the previous few weeks (and before their body has made antibodies).

What a 'positive' HIV test result means

If you get a positive result it means:

• you're HIV positive; that is, you've been infected with HIV
• you can infect others if you have unsafe sex or share drug taking equipment such as needles, filters and so on.

A positive result doesn't say anything about how your health will be in the future. And it doesn't mean you have AIDS or will go on to develop AIDS.

If people know you have HIV, it might mean you'll come across hostility and prejudice.

What a 'negative' HIV test result means

If you get a negative result it means you're HIV negative; that is, you don't have HIV. But this is true only if the test was done at least three months after the last time you did something that put you at risk of getting HIV.

If you do something that puts you at risk of getting HIV and then get a negative test, it doesn't mean you can take risks in the future and stay uninfected. No-one should believe they're immune to HIV.

How soon after a risk can I test?

In the past a 3 month wait was recommended between taking a risk of getting HIV and testing. This is because it could take that long for signs of infection (antibodies) to show up in the blood. But modern tests detect HIV quicker, so waiting 3 months is no longer necessary.

A test can find an infection within 4-6 weeks in most people. So the earliest it is recommended that someone tests is four weeks after taking a risk.

Whose test is it anyway?

An HIV test result is only true for the person whose blood is tested. It can be easy to hear of results given to friends, boyfriends and ex-boyfriends and be tempted to guess what that might mean for ourselves. But only by being tested yourself can you be sure whether you have HIV or not.

Studies show that quite a few men think they have HIV when they don't, or believe they're HIV negative when in fact they have the virus.