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29 years
Is an HIV duo test done at 30 days conclusive?
Jan 19, 2015

Dr. Zakia Dimassi Pediatrics

The CDC (Center for Disease Control and prevention)
recommends the following regarding the DUO (4th generation) HIV
test: “Laboratories should conduct initial testing for HIV with an FDA-approved
antigen/antibody combination (4th generation) immunoassay that detects HIV-1
and HIV-2 antibodies and HIV-1 p24 antigen to screen for established infection
with HIV-1 or HIV-2 and for acute HIV-1 infection. No further testing is
required for specimens that are nonreactive on the initial immunoassay
.”



To better explain, the probability
of estimation of whether a sexual partner had HIV is 1 in 1,000.  For
a single incidence of unprotected sex, we can estimate an average transmission
risk of 1 in 1,000.  So even prior to testing, the odds you caught
HIV are in the range of 1 in a million.  If you undergo a DUO test at
30 days post-exposure (about 4 weeks), and if we base our assumptions on the
fact that the DUO test is "only" 99% sensitive by that time, then the
negative result means the chance you are infected becomes 1 in 100 million,
i.e., almost nil. At 99.99%, it's 1 in 10 billion. 

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