Can you have HIV symptoms and test negative?

As the body is beginning to make antibodies to HIV, a person may test “indeterminate” (that is, not clearly positive but not clearly negative, either) on an HIV test. HIV Seroconversion may be associated with flu-like symptoms, though many people have no symptoms at all.

Can someone test negative for HIV and still be a carrier?

No, people are either HIV positive or HIV negative. There is no such thing as a carrier – and the word is not relevant to HIV. You cannot tell if anyone is HIV positive.

How long does it take for HIV antibodies to show up?

An antigen/antibody test performed by a laboratory on blood from a vein can usually detect HIV infection 18 to 45 days after an exposure. Antigen/ antibody tests done with blood from a finger prick can take longer to detect HIV (18 to 90 days after an exposure).

How often is HIV misdiagnosed?

Globally, studies report HIV misdiagnoses rates ranging from less than 1 percent to more than 10 percent, and there are significant social and financial costs for such misdiagnoses.

How long does it take for HIV symptoms to show up?

About 40\% to 90\% of people have flu-like symptoms within 2-4 weeks after HIV infection. Other people do not feel sick at all during this stage, which is also known as acute HIV infection. Early infection is defined as HIV infection in the past six months (recent) and includes acute (very recent) infections.

Can a person with HIV not know they have it?

Some people don’t get any symptoms during stages 1 and 2, and may not know they have the virus, but they can still pass on HIV. The signs of HIV infection can vary in type and severity from person-to-person, and some people may not have any symptoms for many years.

When should you get tested for HIV?

If you’ve been holding off getting tested and are suddenly shedding a worrying amount of weight (that may be accompanied by weeks of chronic diarrhea), now should be the time to visit your doctor and get tested. Don’t delay. As counterintuitive as it might seem, the most likely symptom of HIV is no symptom at all.

What happens if HIV is left untreated for 3 years?

However, the virus will still be active, infecting new cells and making copies of itself. HIV can still be passed on during this stage. If left untreated, over time, HIV infection will cause severe damage to the immune system. By the third stage of HIV infection a person’s immune system is severely damaged.