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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Could DNA PCR Testing Results Be Incorrect?

had encounter with bar girl 3 yrs ago.did a dna pcr test at that time after 2 monthsts.came negative.still worried cause both me and wife have symptoms of hiv.\like sweating sore throat etc.also i am hypocondriack.pl let me know if the dna pcr test could be false negative
Mon, 22 Sep 2014
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hello
You are hypocondriac but , at this point this is irrelevant because as you mentioned that your wife is having HIV infection and symptoms .
This is right that you got DNA PCR 2 months back after initial contract with girl.
Antibodies to HIV begin to appear within 2 weeks of infection and the period of time between initial infection and the development of detectable antibodies is rarely more than 3 months.
You got the test after 2 months but the test is sensitive and specific but 99.5 % (NOT 100 %), so error may be in your case .
Further it also depend that detectable antibodies didn't appeared at the time of testing in your case.
But now all these things are in past and it will not yield any result .
So in my opinion consult an HIV specialist clinic and get the opinion regarding you and your wife .
Hope this will help you.
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Could DNA PCR Testing Results Be Incorrect?

Hello You are hypocondriac but , at this point this is irrelevant because as you mentioned that your wife is having HIV infection and symptoms . This is right that you got DNA PCR 2 months back after initial contract with girl. Antibodies to HIV begin to appear within 2 weeks of infection and the period of time between initial infection and the development of detectable antibodies is rarely more than 3 months. You got the test after 2 months but the test is sensitive and specific but 99.5 % (NOT 100 %), so error may be in your case . Further it also depend that detectable antibodies didn t appeared at the time of testing in your case. But now all these things are in past and it will not yield any result . So in my opinion consult an HIV specialist clinic and get the opinion regarding you and your wife . Hope this will help you.