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Avatar universal

TO teak again>>>>>

if some of the HIV symptoms appear be4 u take a DNA test
will it know that you infected?
or u still ahve to wait 12/13 weeks to know?
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Avatar universal
so u guy said if we take a RNA PCR test, we have to take antibody test
i heard alot about antibody test, but wat the heck is it?
explain antibody test plz?
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Avatar universal
Wow!!! That is some insightful information. Man, you for sure are inspirational. I wish you the best.
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Avatar universal
I would certain hope the VL load goes down to undectable. Because that is the test that is ran for VL monitoring. Once you are diagnosed with HIV that's the end of the antibody tests all other tests are monitoring tests. I don't even pay that much attention to my CD4 count, what I pay attention to is my CD4% and VL. As long as my % is going up and my VL stays undectable, then I know my medication is working.
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Avatar universal
"WBC are T cells. No, antibodies will never become undectectable in blood plasma if one is HIV positive. Now your VL can become undectable but that has nothing to do with antibodies."

Yes, exactly WBC's are T Cells. I never aid antibodies will become undetectable in blood plasma. I said HAART may eradicate VL from blood plasma but not from places like thymus. Also, it is possible that VL my go down to undetectable levels on RNA PCR in blood plasma due to antibody production.

Overlall, looking at the bigger picture we advocate the same 3 month test. I advocate a 3 month conclusive test for the reason that only ab test is gold standard as it looks for antibodies and it has got nothing to do with the virus types. However, PCR's are highly sensitive but very specific only to the virus types they look for.

3 months if good enough time for plenty detctable antibodies to develop. According to Dr. Moyle at thebody.org, 98% of seroconversions happen by 56 days. So, a 3 months ab test holds out to be conclusive.
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Avatar universal
WBC are T cells. No, antibodies will never become undectectable in blood plasma if one is HIV positive. Now your VL can become undectable but that has nothing to do with antibodies. All I'm saying is a PCR test other than for use with infants are not approved diagnostic tests. They are all screening tests.

Here is a list of all the approved tests. Look in the column "Use." It well tell you what the test are used for, diagnostic or screening.  http://www.fda.gov/cber/products/testkits.htm


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Avatar universal
Well, that is information for me too. Thanks for that. However, comparing viral eradication with HAART and virus detection through PCR do sound like different things. And moreover, the the virus can reside/hide at the thymus but at the same time, it has to spill over into the regular blood dtream. Maybe, all of it do not spill but it still does. So, for HAART to be able to completely eradicate the virus, it is not possible as virus is in Thymus but for PCR to detect it in blood stream, it surely does not sound like a problem provided the infection type matched the PCR type specific detection capability.

Also, thymus is the place where t-cells are produced and where HIV resides all the time besides being in regular blood stream almost all the time (where RNA PCR detects it). So, that does mean that it infects the WBC's which are released in regular blood stream. This brings DNA PCR into picture as it looks for infected white blood cells.

So, when HAART starts working effectively, the virus trace can possibly go missing from blood plasma and that's why RNA PCR may yield a false negative or undetectable. Also, when antibodies build up the viral load my become undetectable in blood plasma. But, DNA PCR remains positive once it gets positive as it looks for
HIV traces in infected white blood cells(specifically monocytes and lymphocytes).
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Avatar universal
I said that the virus can be in locations that the HAART medication can not eradicate it. That is the reason they are having trouble with vaccines because they cannot get to the virus to eradicate it. The virus is released and you go through the same cycle. The thymus is one such place that HAART cannot get to and the virus lies dormant. The thymus is where T cells are produced and HIV is released.
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Avatar universal
No PCR's can give conclusive result. You are absolutely correct. What I am saying above is that RNA PCR reached its max detection sensitivity by 2 weeks and hence, the results it yields at that time is considered conclusive as per the test standards. Same thing applies for DNA PCR at 28 days. But, at the same time having a negative RNA PCR or DNA PCR can not rule out HIV infection. The reason for that is more due to strain/subtype dependent facts.

I said in my post above that the PCR's yield conclusive results for the strains(1&2)/subtype or clades(A-G) they test for when tested at appropriate time but PCR's do not get into checking the recombinant strains. That is the sole purpose why antibody tests are recommended at a later stage when the person is showing symptoms of the infection.

Teak, a virus can not hide inside the body. Once it enters the blood stream even after taking into consideration of worse case scenario of eclipse period (2 week), it has to build viral colonies. PCR will for sure detect it. There is no hiding place for it.

Again the only reason for an antibody follow up is to cover for clades/strains/subtypes no covered by PCR as no PCR is comprehensive enough.

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Avatar universal
There are no PCR tests that can give you a conclusive test, nor are they approved for diagnostic use. They are screening tests that help with the diagnosis. All PCR test have to be followed up with an antibody test to get a conclusive test result.
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Avatar universal
PCR DNA is considered to be conclusive at 28 days for the virus strains/subtypes it is looking for. It needs to be followed by an antibody test. This is the best test to have if your exposure has been around a month ago along with an antibody test.

PCR RNA is considered to be conclusive around 2 weeks. This test also needs to be followed by an antibody test as it is also not a stand alone test.

The timing difference for conclusive infection detection is around 7-10 days and both PCR's need to be followed by antibody test at around 12 weeks.

PCR DNA is equally competitive if not better from 28 days onwards when compared with PCR RNA. However, early advantage till 1st few weeks is held by PCR RNA.
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Avatar universal
You can never assume that you are positive by symptoms. Symptoms mean nothing. As for the PCR DNA, that is a waste of money. Unless you were possibly infect months or years before. It is not going have any bearing on your treatment. Wait and take a 12/13 week antibody test and be done with it.
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