The truth of testing for disease

Mr P Smith, of Wem, asked why it is a star in America can get an HIV test in 24 hours and yet in this country it takes six months.

The reason is that you are getting confused with testing time and an all-clear from disease.

Testing takes less than a day whether you are in the USA or UK.

What doctors say is that if you have had unprotected sex with an HIV person and then have either none or only protected sex for the next six months and a HIV test is negative, then there is a strong chance (nothing is 100 per cent) that you are not HIV positive.

This is the length of time the virus takes to multiply and for the body to produce a detectable antibody.

A person could have been infected a few weeks ago, but the antibody levels in the blood at the time of testing would not be high enough to give a positive result. They could be negative if tested now but in five months show a positive result.

Alan Chesters, Newport