how can you get a false positive hiv test?
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The main cause of false positive results is that the test has detected antibodies, but they are not antibodies to HIV – they are antibodies to another substance or infection. Tests are not meant to react to other types of antibodies, but it sometimes happens.
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Antibody tests check for HIV antibodies in blood or oral fluid. HIV antibodies are disease-fighting proteins that the body produces in response to HIV infection. Most rapid tests and home use tests are antibody tests. Antigen/antibody tests can detect both HIV antibodies and HIV antigens (a part of the virus) in blood.
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It can take up to three to 12 weeks for your body to make enough antibodies for an antibody test to detect HIV infection. It usually takes a few days to a few weeks to get results of an HIV test, although rapid HIV tests can produce results in about 20 minutes.
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HIV tests detect antibodies — the immune system's response to infection. For the majority of people, HIV testing will be accurate at four to six weeks after possible infection. However, for some people it may take longer — up to three months — for detectable antibodies to develop.
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Chemical pregnancy The most common explanation for a "false positive" is that you really were pregnant when you took the test. "Some women can get a positive pregnancy test and then three days after their period is due, they have a really heavy period," says Lanalee Araba Sam, M.D., an ob-gyn in Fort Lauderdale.
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The Rapid test is just as accurate as a Standard HIV test. If you test negative, then you do not require any further tests. If you are positive, then you will need a further blood test using a specimen that needs to be sent to a laboratory.
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Cue: panicked visit to your ob/gyn, only to learn that you're actually not pregnant and had nothing to stress about. Thankfully, false-positive pregnancy tests are rare, but they can happen. Here are some of the most common causes of a false-positive pregnancy test.
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The only way to tell if a person has HIV is through the HIV Antibody Test, which detects the presence of antibodies produced by the body in response to the HIV virus. It can take up to three months for antibodies to be developed.
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Very few medical tests have 100% accuracy. There will still be rare cases where someone is HIV positive and not picked up. However, HIV tests are one of the more accurate tests for any medical infection. Tests showing a negative result are 'interpreted' as negative.
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It is also possible for a test to be positive even when you do not have chlamydia. This is called a false positive test result. Both of these false tests are very rare but can sometimes explain why you get a different result to your sexual partner.
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One reason for a false positive is the presence of another disease that produces antibodies similar to the ones produced during a syphilis infection. A few of the conditions that can cause a false positive include the following: HIV.
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If the results from a second test are positive, a person is considered to be HIV-positive. It's also possible to receive a false-negative result. This means the result is negative when in reality the virus is present. This generally happens if a person recently contracted HIV and gets tested during the window period.
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Could a positive result be wrong? Although rare, it's possible to get a positive result from a home pregnancy test when you're not actually pregnant. This is known as a false-positive.
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Data from the CDC suggest that for both STIs, a false positive is incredibly rare (99 percent of the time tests that come back negative are accurate). And if you do have the STI, it'll pick it up more than 90 percent of the time.
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The body can take up to three months to produce these antibodies. Most people will have enough antibodies to test positive within three to 12 weeks after contracting HIV. At 12 weeks, or three months, 97 percent of people have enough antibodies for an accurate test result.
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Rarely, certain medical conditions can cause a home pregnancy test to give a false positive. These include: urinary tract infection. kidney disease that causes blood or white blood cells in the urine.
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A human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) test detects HIV antibodies or antigens, or the genetic material (DNA or RNA) of HIV in blood or another type of sample. This determines whether an HIV infection is present (HIV-positive). ELISA results are usually available in 2 to 4 days.