hello, last week i passed a kidney stone and after x-ray and a cat scan i was informed that i had an enlarged spleen. I also have swollen lymph glands and low platelets along with a 4.0 white cell count. The following day i tested reactive to a 20 minute experimental hiv blood test (claiming 98 accuracy) and also took a western blot which will not be ready until next week. Also, is there anything at all that would cause a rective response to an hiv blood test whether or not it is experimental or western blot? thank you

A number of rapid HIV tests are being developed; some are more accurate than others. Since I don't know which experimental test you took, I can't give you any specific data about the accuracy (sensitivity and specificity, in medical terms), but in general these tests are more likely to miss an HIV-infected person that to say someone is HIV positive when they really aren't. There are no medicines or vaccinations or other kinds of treatment that will cause an HIV test to be inaccurate. Your other test results certainly indicate that something is amiss-- they are consistent with HIV but could also be consistent with other disease states. All you can do now is wait for the western blot results and try to relax as best you can. Good luck!