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HIV test
Make it clearer
An HIV test checks a sample of blood, saliva, or urine to find out whether someone has the human immunodeficiency virus.
The antigen and antibody test does not look for one thing but two. On one side, the antibodies, the defensive proteins the immune system makes when there is an infection. On the other, the antigen, the part of the virus that wakes up that defense.
And there is something worth understanding before getting tested. No test finds the virus immediately after infection. The test does not see the infection: it sees the signal it leaves, and that signal takes time to build. It can take weeks before there is enough for the test to detect it.
In brief
An HIV test checks a sample of blood, saliva, or urine to find out whether there is infection with the human immunodeficiency virus.
The antigen and antibody test looks for two things: the antibodies the immune system makes and the antigen, the part of the virus that triggers that response.
No test detects the virus immediately after infection: the signals can take weeks to build up enough to show.
The test does not see the infection: it sees the signal it leaves, and that signal takes time to build.
Sources (1)
- MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of MedicineHIV Screening Test, MedlinePlus Medical TestPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated