[Question #481] global disparity between performance of antigen/antibody tests?
103 months ago
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
103 months ago
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You are splitting hairs. You asked for our input and have received it. You seem to prefer other information you have gotten over the internet. That too is your right. We are not going to engage in a debate based on things that you have heard on the internet.
The HIV epidemic is a global epidemic. Each nation has its own standards for what is permited to be licensed for sale however the market for HIV test is a GLOBAL market and manufacturers seek approval by regulatory bodies such as the FDA in the US and WHO on a global scale. Likewise I am confident that standards for licensure in Australia are quite similar and effectively equal to those of other developed nations. Typically all licensed tests are held to the SAME standard for approval and any differences in test performance tend to be miniscule and not clinically meaningful, more often reflecting differences in study methods than meaningful differences in test performance. If you choose to distrust them that is your right and, in my opinion, problem. Globally the data indicate that approved antigen/antibody tests provide definitive/conclusive test results 4 weeks after an exposure.
Nothing more to say. I wish you well. EWH
103 months ago
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
103 months ago
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Sigh, you just keep asking the same question. Einstein said that one definition of insanity is to ask the same question again and again and expect different answers. My responses are NOT going to change:
1. YES!
2. No, SSRIs do not cause immunosuppression. The fact that you are taking SSRIs however does suggest that you have a mental health professional whom you interact with. I suggest that, for your own good, you discuss the basis for your persistent, unwarranted anxiety and inability to accept that your test results, performed in a professional and, I presume, licensed setting, are valid and that you did not get HIV form your exposures of concern. It cannot be good for you to be spending so much time repeating the same questions again and again. EWH
103 months ago
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
103 months ago
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