It could go either way. I believe false positives are far more common than false negatives, so that means you probably have a decent chance of being all right. We can't really guarantee it or anything, however.

Either way, I am sure it will be a tough week for you. You could spend your time trying to not think about it too much, or you could spend your time doing some volunteer work, maybe even HIV/AIDS related to feel good in the meantime. You could also look for any HIV/AIDS support groups that might be near you for a little support in this week.

Good luck to you.

thanx for ur reply,
do u know what are the possibly causes for a false positive result? and what is a chance of a false negative result?

thanx!!

I do not know the chances of getting a false positive or false negative as far as percents go or anything like that.

There are a few different causes for false negatives and false positives.

You might get a false negative if you test too soon, before the anitbodies are made. That is the most common reason for getting a false negative.

False positives often happen for no reason other than that the tests are designed to be sensitive. It's better to get a false positive than a false negative. It might be stressful, but it makes the doctors take another look and do another test. A false negative would be dangerous because people might not take that second look. So tests are often designed to give false positives easier than false negatives.

Other times you might get the wrong result just because someone did not do the test right.

i havent had sex for the last 5 months, so it should have already developed antibodies by now if i do get HIV..

Ok, that's good. That means you probably do have a better chance of getting a false positive than a false negative.

I hae had a false positive once the doctor didn't tell me and sent it away for a second set of test which all came out negative. She said the reason It came back positive is because I was getting sick at the tme and it had something to do with my blood cells. Trust me it is possible and common.

I talked to my docotor today,got the name of my tests, the first screening test was Elisa, which was positive, the second one was western blot which shows negative.. Doc said I need to get tested again... Could anyone tell me what is the chance for a false negative western blot test after 5 month exposure?