Prepared by: Bratislav Prokić, November 2022
Review: Prof. Dr. Biljana Kocić, epidemiologist,
Institute of Public Health - Niš
What does it mean when an HIV test result is invalid?
If you were tested for HIV, the result may be invalid (indeterminate, unclear, ambiguous). Then you need to do another test.
Why is an HIV test result invalid?
A test result may be invalid due to a faulty test, technical error, or if the test gives a weak positive result. A weak positive reaction can sometimes occur due to a recent HIV infection, when a sufficient number of antibodies (immune response) detected by the test has not yet been produced, but also for other reasons.
What if the HIV test is weakly reactive?
Testing should be repeated. If the result of a repeat HIV test is negative (non-reactive), a weak positive reaction in the previous test is almost certainly a false positive. If the result of the repeated test again shows weak positivity, testing should be done with another type of test.
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