Are all negatives true negatives?
A Non-Reactive (negative) test means that anti-HIV antibodies were not detected in the specimen. This test result is interpreted as Negative. It is possible to get a negative screening test if the infection is very recent. This may be because there is a window period of several weeks when a person may be infected but antibodies to the virus have not reached a concentration that is visible. Therefore, if a person has certain risk factors, or thinks they may have been exposed to HIV, they should be retested in three months to be certain of a negative result.
