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How Soon Can You Test Positive for HIV?

The amount of time that it takes to get results back from an HIV test can be anxiety-inducing. Having to wait a certain amount of time before you can trust a negative result can make it worse. As HIV tests actually test for the presence of HIV antibodies, their accuracy depends on how quickly the body can make enough of these antibodies to be detected by the test.

  1. Range of Waiting Time

    • The average person will begin making HIV antibodies within two weeks, but it can take as long as six months for tests to detect these antibodies in the blood after exposure. The period of time between infection and a test being able to pick up on the antibodies is known as the "Window Period" and is generally a time when an individual is most infectious.

    Average Waiting Time

    • It is very rare for antibodies in a person's blood to not be detected by the end of three months. Negative results after three months are generally accurate, though further testing is still recommended to make sure.

    Retesting

    • If a person who has been exposed to HIV gets tested at three months and tests negative, they should still continue to be tested in three-month intervals at least once or twice to ensure that they are truly negative. A negative result six or nine months after exposure is almost certainly accurate.

    Why Retesting Is Important

    • Testing negative after an exposure doesn't necessarily mean a person is not infected, it simply means their body is not producing the antibodies that the commonly-used ELIZA or Western Blot HIV tests check for. Additional tests ensure that the person is truly negative and not simply slow to develop these antibodies.

    Alternative to Standard HIV Testing

    • As an alternative to standard HIV testing, an individual can sometimes ask for a test which checks for the virus directly instead of the antibodies that a person makes after infection. This test is not available in all testing locations, and is more expensive than other testing methods.

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