Hiv test period frame?

how can you tell if u are home free from risk . how many months you can be sure you are finsh testing ,

It takes a while before the AIDS screening test (called ELISA) can be used. This is usually 4-12 weeks. Tests done before that aren't reliable.

If the screening test is positive, this doesn't necessarily mean a person has AIDS. A confirmatory test (called Western Blot) still needs to be done to confirm the diagnosis.

Hope that helps.

The window period is the time from infection until a test can detect any change. The average window period with antibody tests is 22 days. Antigen testing cuts the window period to approximately 16 days and NAT (Nucleic Acid Testing) further reduces this period to 12 days.[2]

Performance of medical tests is often described in terms of:

sensitivity: The percentage of the results that will be positive when HIV is present
specificity: The percentage of the results that will be negative when HIV is not present.
All diagnostic tests have limitations, and sometimes their use may produce erroneous or questionable results.

False positive results are when the test concludes HIV is present when, in fact, the person is not infected.
False negative results are when the test concludes HIV is not present, when in fact the person is infected.
Nonspecific reactions, hypergammaglobulinemia, or the presence of antibodies directed to other infectious agents that may be antigenically similar to HIV can produce false positive results. Autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, can also cause false positive results.


Antibody tests may give false negative results during the window period, an interval of three weeks to six months between the time of HIV infection and the production of measurable antibodies to HIV (so-called seroconversion). Most people develop detectable antibodies approximately 30 days after infection, although some seroconvert later. The vast majority of people (99%) have detectable antibodies by three months after HIV infection; a six-month window is extremely rare with modern antibody testing.[3] During the window period, an infected person can transmit HIV to others although their HIV infection may not be detectable with an antibody test. Antiretroviral therapy during the window period can delay the formation of antibodies and extend the window period beyond 12 months.[4] Antibody tests may also yield false negative results in patients with X-linked agammaglobulinemia; other diagnostic tests should be used in such patients.

Three instances of delayed HIV seroconversion occurring in Health-care workers have been reported;[5] in these instances, the Health-care workers[6] tested negative for HIV antibodies greater than 6 months postexposure but were seropositive within 12 months after the exposure.[7] DNA sequencing confirmed the source of infection in one instance. Two of the delayed seroconversions were associated with simultaneous exposure to hepatitis C virus (HCV). In one case, co-infection was associated with a rapidly fatal HCV disease course; however, it is not known whether HCV directly influences the risk for or course of HIV infection or is a marker for other exposure-related factors