How long does it have to be for HIV to be detected by a test?
The HIV test is testing for HIV antibodies, and those take time to develop. If you think you were exposed (like you had unprotected sex with someone you know is HIV-positive or you were raped or stuck with an infected needle), you should talk to your healthcare provider about taking HIV drugs that may lessen your risks. (They used to have people take AZT, if they thought they might have been exposed.) Then, you don’t start testing until 3 months after the exposure (and make sure you have protected sex during that time because it can be spread). Generally, if you’re testing negative at 6 months, there’s a very slim chance that you were infected. You could still continue to be tested for up to a year after, just to be sure.
