How soon after you're exposed can you tell if you have HIV or AIDS?

Answer by  MedStud (32)

It depends on each person's immune system but generally 3-6 months for symptoms to appear. The disease initially causes nonspecific symptoms such as night sweats, fever, chills, malaise, fatigue, and coughing. Diagnosis requires blood and antibody testing. Exposure can be discovered after a few days this way but treatment to prevent actual contraction requires immediate prophylaxis.

Answer by  sanityrose (2664)

HIV can take up to six month to show as in testing. Your friend will need monthly testing from now through the six months. After this, they should test yearly.

Answer by  mooly398 (140)

The HIV test detects antibodies against the virus in the blood. It can take time for your body to produce antibodies against a foreign antigen like the HIV virus. Medical advice suggests that you should be tested at 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after suspected exposure.

Answer by  dawn61 (60)

On rare occasions it can be detected after two weeks. Majority of patients will test positive around 6 months. It is all dependent on how long the virus stays incubated in their system.

Answer by  mpg (62)

Once exposed to HIV, there is a period of time called the window period where test results for HIV may be falsely negative. This period ranges from 3 weeks to 6 months. Most infected people are positive at one month. So, test after one month and re-test at 6 months.