I asked a question about hiv antibody testing and having covid-19 at the same time, in september. I was afraid that having covid-19 (and maybe not know about it) at the same time as antibody testing for hiv would interfere with the results of the hiv antibody testing.  

You said that having a covid-19 infection at any stage of the infection (with or without symptoms) wouldn't interfere in anyway with hiv antibody tests and that my negative hiv antibody only test a year after exposure is conclusively negative. Is that still correct? I know it might be a stupid and repetitive question.. 

Thanks in advance and best wishes,

sherri

Nothing has changed since Dr. Hook replied to your previous question. The HIV blood tests are among the most accurate and robust tests ever developed, for any medical condition. There are no medical conditions or drugs that are known to interfere with the performance and accuracy of the latest antibody tests in regular use world-wide (third generation) or the antigen-antibody (4th generation) tests: none at all, despite worrisome comments you can find online from non-professional resources. There is no evidence that COVID infection (or any other infection) interferes with test result. Your negative HIV test remains 100% reliable.

At the time of your last question, COVID vaccine still wasn't available to you. I hope that has changed and that you have been vaccinated, or will be immunized soon. Do not let worry about HIV and your test result interfere with getting vaccinated:  neither condition will have any effect on the other.

I hope these comments are helpful. Good luck -- and let me know if anything still isn't clear.

HHH, MD

Thanks for your kind reply. Since my last post i have been vaccinated twice and i'm getting the third dose at the end of the month, so that's good news.

I would just like to ask for one clarification about the latest antibody tests in regular use. By latest, do you mean the third generation test in general vs an older one like a second generation test? Or do you mean a newer version of the third generation test? I don't know which version of the third generation test they used in the lab.. 

Thanks again for your reply and have a nice day,

Sherri

Test experts and other scientists no longer use the "generation" terminology at all. There is no difference in performance and accuracy among the current antibody tests, and all are better than the older ("second generation") tests. In any case, the differences between tests only involve early results, i.e. how quickly they become positive. By 3 months after the last exposure, all laboratory-based antibody tests, both second and third generation, are equally conclusive. And none are affected in any way by other medical conditions or drugs. If your last test was done sufficiently long after your last possible exposure, you can be confident the negative HIV test results are reliable and that you do not have HIV.