Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.I tested on Jan 27th 2005 and got a negative result using the FDA approved HomeAccess kit. My girlfriend and I have had a rocky relationship last year until early January we found out that we were pregnant. I know one can never be sure, but I am extremely confident that my GF has not had any partners other than me in her life.
On October 30th, 2004, I had my only and hopefully my last ever sexual experience with another woman (unsure of HIV status). I used a condom and even took it home, filled it with water to make sure there were no leaks and all was safe. After my girlfriend got pregnant, she was tested and she had ELISA as positive but the Western Blot negative. The doctor said she had to have a viral load test even though the WBLOT was negative. The test came back with a count below 400 which the doctor said was most likely a negative result. However, the doctor said the only way to be sure is to do a PCR DNA test and that will be the last one. I am scared over all of this, it was pretty much 90 days after my possible in counter that I got a negative result. I just want to have a good chance of us having a healthy baby and an awesome family life together. Would very much appreciate your thoughts on the above.
Dear Father-to-Be:
I think all the evidence points to a false positive ELISA.
1. Studies done of heterosexual couples who use condoms consistently show that condoms fail less the 1 in 15,000 times. And you even tested the condom with water.
2. Your home test was negative 3 months after contact. While we know that some patients can take up to 6 months to convert to positive, that is very rare. I would give the home test at least 90% accuracy at 3 months.
3. ELISA for HIV is about 99.5% accurate, but like all screening tests it errors just very slightly on overcalling. That means that about 1 in 500 is a false positive. But the Western Blot is about 99.8% accurate - neither over or under calling. And coupled with a viral load less than 400, I think your girlfriend is HIV negative.
4. You feel confident that your girlfriend has not been with anyone else, so the chance of a false positive ELISA is much greater than the likelihood that she is very low risk heterosexual woman who is HIV positive.
The proviral DNA will be the definitive answer.
Daniel H. Bowers, M.D.
050315
ASKD050325
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