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Home / Answered Questions / I tested negative for HIV at 7 weeks. It was not a ‘rapid test’, should I do a follow up test at 3 months ?

I tested negative for HIV at 7 weeks. It was not a ‘rapid test’, should I do a follow up test at 3 months ?

Hi

In BC Canada the most common type of blood test we have is a HIV antibody test which is 95% accurate by 6 weeks and gives you a final result at 3 months.

We normally recommend doing a follow up HIV test at 3 months, but as you can see your HIV test at 7 weeks would be more than 95% accurate.

It really depends on what chance there was in getting HIV in the first place. If the reason you had a HIV test was because you were concerned that the type of sex you had could easily pass HIV I would recommend getting a follow up test at 3 months.

If you feel there was no real chance of getting HIV but you just had the HIV test as part of an STI check up, I would say to just get another HIV test the next time you schedule a STI check up.

Have a look at our “Know your chances” web page, it provides information on your chances of getting or passing an STI depending on how you are having sex.
 

Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.

Health Nurse

For other readers, please feel free to leave a comment, or let us know if this was helpful.

This answer was posted on October 28, 2014.

This answer was updated on February 7, 2022.