Is HIV RNA Test Done 20 Days After Exposure Conclusive?

Posted on Fri, 22 Jan 2016

Question: Had unprotected sex with female i don't know last about 30 seconds then i pulled out and quit. I had hiv rna test done at 20 days and then again on 34 days both negative. Had a hiv antibody test at 28 days also negative. Do i have anything to worry about. Thanks

Answered by Dr. Sandip Kabra (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
No need to worry.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thanks for the posting query on health care magic,

I have read your query and understand the concern.

RNA qualitative test for HIV is highly sensitive & specific test, you can be sure of the test result as negative even at 20 days of exposure and since the chances of false negative result is rare here and also negative results need not to be confirmed usually.

Generally incubation period of HIV ranges from 1 month to 3 months and if you did the test after 25 days of exposure then it could give around 95% accurate result which you did on 34th days following exposure.

Mostly,RNA test give (negative here) results after 3 or 4 weeks of exposure accurately, because it is highly specific and sensitive test but to repeat the test after 6 to 8 weeks will give nearly 100% result to clear remaining doubt.

HIV antibody tests (negative at 28 days in your case) is more or less same as compared to HIV RNA test as far as the accuracy is concerned.

So,there is no need to be worried as I said negative results need not to be confirmed by mostly because chances of false negative result is very rare.

But if you are much worried about your early negative result then you can repeat the test at this time (8 weeks of exposure) to be more sure and to clear remaining doubt.

Most probably it will come negative like your earlier result,so need not to be worried.

Hope this will help you.

Regards,

Dr.Sandip Kabra

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj