Important note: Information in this Q&A was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.


Question:

My daughter is 15 weeks pregnant and she had some blood work done approximately 2 weeks ago. The doctor called her in because the HIV test came back indeterminate. She has been requested to re-do the blood work in three weeks.

What does this mean? How often do these tests come back indeterminate and what could the reason be?

How would HIV affect her pregnancy and the baby?

She also has anemia and was prescribed iron pills.

Please advise.

Answer provided by:

Ross Slotten, M.D.
Klein and Slotten Medical Associates
Private Practice in Family Medicine
With a special interest in HIV disease


Dear Worried Grandma:
HIV testing is now routine for pregnant women, which can be anxiety-provoking, especially when a woman gets the kind of results your daughter received. Since the test is not definitely positive, her doctor is doing the standard thing: repeating the test in a month. If your daughter has truly been infected with HIV, her test should at that point, be positive. If it's still indeterminate, her doctor will probably order a viral level to see if the HIV virus itself can be detected, or refer her to an infectious disease specialist.

You did not mention if your daughter was/is at risk for HIV. That is, does she have a partner who is HIV positive or is she an injecting-drug user? If not, odds are the test is what we call a false-positive. But follow-up tests should confirm that.

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