Hello Doctor,
Currently I live in Izmir, Turkey and recently I visited a privately owned lab for HIV test.
My girlfriend and I had the test. Due to privacy issues, we had both records with my name as 1 and 2.
The test's name was HIV Combo (p24 + lgG) and we got the results after two hours.
In the first report, there was a gender detail (male) and the result was NEGATIVE 0.115 COI (this was mine)
and the second report had no gender information and the result was NEGATIVE 0.157 COI (this was hers)
And the report stated that result below 0.9 COI must be interpreted as negative, and above 1.0 as positive and finally those between 0.9 and 1.0 should be classified as "in the line".
The doctor in the lab said that the results are not gender dependent and also added that we should not worry since it was more than 6 months since our last suspicious intercourse.
I wonder if these results are gender dependent?
I mean, would it differ anything if her gender was on the report?
And secondly, can such a test be considered as reliable 6 months later than a suspicious intercourse?
Should we have another test?
Is this an antigen or antibody test?
People say that antigens disappear after sometime, is that true?
If they do, can 6 months be enough for them to disappear?