Thank you for your words of affirmation...I just think I needed to hear it from someone else. It's been 9 years since my last HIV scare, and back then the debate was still on, somewhat, over 3 months vs 6 months. There were still many websites back then saying only 6 months was definitive. I guess thst is what made it hard for me to have faith in the 1 month definitive DUO test, but the science is there. Thank you for all the hard work you do on the forum with all of us going through this. I found this additional statement from Dr Handsfield that really explains the science of the 4th generation test. This, with your comments, made me believe my results. Here is how he explained it;
"This has been explained before -- but this time I'm going to bookmark this thread so I can refer questions to it and won't have to keep repeating myself!
Many people misunderstand the duo (4th generation) HIV test. It might seem that after the period in which p24 antigen can no longer be detected in the blood (around 4-6 weeks), the test behaves just like a stand-alone antibody test. This would seem to leave open a possibility that after p24 antigen disappears, there could be brief time before antibody shows up, and therefore a possible false negative test result.
But it doesn’t work that way. The tests for HIV antibody and p24 antigen that are incorporated into the duo test are not independent of one another. It is the HIV antibody that clears p24 out of the blood. If p24 antigen is no longer detectable, then antibody MUST be present -- that's the very reason that p24 is gone. Therefore, in every person with an HIV infection of 4 or more weeks induration, either antibody or p24 is always detectable in the blood. (Both may be present for a couple of weeks in the 2-6 week time frame.)"
Here's the link:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/HIV---Prevention/Are-my-test-conclusive/show/2064508
Again thank you and to everyone reading this forum pls consider the above from a respected HIV expert when going through your testing. Here's to health and happiness to everyone reading this board!