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Diabetic Patient. Did Elisa Test Few Months After Exposure. Chances Of HIV Infection?
Posted on
Wed, 13 Feb 2013
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Wed, 13 Feb 2013
Answered on
Tue, 5 Mar 2013
Last reviewed on
Hello and thanks for your query.
I shall make an effort to provide you with good professional recommendations specific to your questions.
The ELISA test done after 4 weeks of exposure is taken as valid, so in your case the test apparently as NEGATIVE - as the level of antibodies in your serum is way below the cut off number of 0.4 - so the possibility of you having an HIV infection looks very bleak.
The possibility of having HIV full blown infection or not with your situation only with a ELISA test report - has to consider the following,
1. Diagnostic tests have limitations and have to be synced with clinical status.
2. ELISA is a high sensitivity test - that means it shows up as positive in a large number of patients who are really positive.
And to confirm HIV infection, a second test called Western Blot test is performed if ELISA is initially positive. To sum up, a clinical case of HIV will need a combination of ELISA and Western Blot tests to confirm initially.
Let me know if I have missed out any other concern in your question.
Yet again, I duly appreciate your query to me, I do hope that you have found something useful to help you and I shall be glad to answer any further apprehensions.
Sincerely,
Dr Sujeet N Charugulla,
MBBS, MD.
Consultant Physician.
I shall make an effort to provide you with good professional recommendations specific to your questions.
The ELISA test done after 4 weeks of exposure is taken as valid, so in your case the test apparently as NEGATIVE - as the level of antibodies in your serum is way below the cut off number of 0.4 - so the possibility of you having an HIV infection looks very bleak.
The possibility of having HIV full blown infection or not with your situation only with a ELISA test report - has to consider the following,
1. Diagnostic tests have limitations and have to be synced with clinical status.
2. ELISA is a high sensitivity test - that means it shows up as positive in a large number of patients who are really positive.
And to confirm HIV infection, a second test called Western Blot test is performed if ELISA is initially positive. To sum up, a clinical case of HIV will need a combination of ELISA and Western Blot tests to confirm initially.
Let me know if I have missed out any other concern in your question.
Yet again, I duly appreciate your query to me, I do hope that you have found something useful to help you and I shall be glad to answer any further apprehensions.
Sincerely,
Dr Sujeet N Charugulla,
MBBS, MD.
Consultant Physician.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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