I wonder if you get tested for HIV at, say, Bumrungrad, does this test cover all kinds of strains of the virus or only the "local" one? In other words, if you got infected by someone with a "non-Asian" strain outside Thailand will it show up in the test? Sorry if I confuse matters - don't know much about this stuff...

Another question. Is it really enough to wait three months after having unprotected sex to be sure of the HIV test result? Because I read on some sites you have to wait up to six months.

Thanks a lot.

Basically you only have two main types of hiv, namely hiv-1 & hiv-2 these are then split into sub groups M,N & O and finally subtypes A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K and a very rare one called CRF, which is a combination of 2 different subtypes.

For many years now the standard ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) hiv test has been able to detect the 2 main types of hiv infection, so whilst the vast majority of people (90%) will be hiv-1 the standard test that you have in a hospital such as Bumrungrad will certainly pick up hiv-2 (almost exclusively West Africa).

One of the good things about Bumrungrad is that they will do a standard hiv test, which will indicate if any anti-bodies are present, and if the test comes back positive for any reason, they will automatically do a further ELISA test and an Antigen test to get a definite result. This means that the chance of a false positive result coming back is almost non existant.

Generally hiv anti-bodies are detectable in the blood within 2 -4 weeks of infection, but it has been standard practice for many years for a 3 month wait before getting a definite all clear. There have been reported cases where it has taken 6 months for the antibodies to show up, but these cases are very rare.

Hope of some help

Slimdog

Basically you only have two main types of hiv, namely hiv-1 & hiv-2 these are then split into sub groups M,N & O and finally subtypes A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K and a very rare one called CRF, which is a combination of 2 different subtypes.

For many years now the standard ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) hiv test has been able to detect the 2 main types of hiv infection, so whilst the vast majority of people (90%) will be hiv-1 the standard test that you have in a hospital such as Bumrungrad will certainly pick up hiv-2 (almost exclusively West Africa).

One of the good things about Bumrungrad is that they will do a standard hiv test, which will indicate if any anti-bodies are present, and if the test comes back positive for any reason, they will automatically do a further ELISA test and an Antigen test to get a definite result. This means that the chance of a false positive result coming back is almost non existant.

Generally hiv anti-bodies are detectable in the blood within 2 -4 weeks of infection, but it has been standard practice for many years for a 3 month wait before getting a definite all clear. There have been reported cases where it has taken 6 months for the antibodies to show up, but these cases are very rare.

Hope of some help

Slimdog

Thanks a lot :-) That was very useful. Bumrungrad does seem like a good place to take the test to make sure it is done thoroughly.

google medhelp, if you want more info