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HIV and AIDS

DNA PCR test

05/23/2006 03:12PM

Question:

for some testing sites, they claim that DNA PCR is so sensitivie (chance of false negative is very very low). if you have negative result after 28 days, the result is conclusive. You don`t need further test. is it true? i know that this test is not approved by FDA. however, if the test does not give false negative, i`m willing to try. thank you very much

Answer:

There is the possibility of a false positive PCR result-- that is why this test should not be used for diagnosis. The correct test for diagnosis is an EIA or ELISA-- if that test is negative nothing more needs to be done. If that test is positive, then it needs to be confirmed by a western blot test.

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Response by:

University of Cincinnati Judith Feinberg, MD
Professor of Medicine
Division of Infectious Diseases
Department of Internal Medicine
College of Medicine
University of Cincinnati