(also known as an EIA test)

This is considered the "gold standard" test and is the most common screening for HIV. This test is 99.5% accurate in finding antibodies after seroconversion. You should be aware that antibody testing will NOT find HIV in the blood immediately after you have been exposed to the virus.

When is a good time to test? Everyone's different. It can take some people up to 3 months to produce enough antibodies for the test to find. Sometimes it's sooner, sometimes later. If you're tested too soon, your result may be negative even though you've been infected. This is called a "false-negative". That's why repeat testing is critical. Getting another HIV antibody test in 3 months after the first test will give you the best, most accurate result. (So you can get some rest!)

What does "Reflex to Western Blot Confirmation" mean? Reflex testing is an automatic confirmation of the test results. That means that all positive tests are automatically followed up with another test to confirm the positive results. It's done with the same blood sample so there's no extra blood draw and no extra cost to you. You may read about something called an ELISA test. Antibody tests are also known as ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) tests.