during my pregnancy i was tested for hiv. the ELISA was positive and the western blot came back negative. ive been a blood donar for 3 years and never had a problem until i donated 6 months after i had my baby and they rejected me since the results for hiv 1/2 antibodies came back positive and the confirmatory came back inconclusive. i havent had any intercourse for more than a year so i couldnt have recently been infected. why is the conformatory still inconclusive? is there always going to be a false postive from now on? and is my baby going to have false postives as well?

i recently donated to the red cross and they replied that i can no longer donate blood. my test results:

HIV-1/2 ANTIBODIES=POSITIVE

HIV-1 CONFIRMATORY=INDETERMINATE

HIV-2ANTIBODY=NEGATIVE

NUCLEIC ACID TEST MULTIPLEX FOR HIV/HCV=NEGATIVE

what does this mean? am i HIV positve or negative? why does an indeterminate result occur? this never happened before when i donated. i had a baby 6 months ago. could this be the reason why? during pregnancy i was also tested for HIV and the ELISA was positive and the Wblot was negative. please help. im worried.

Hello,

I've combined your two questions.

You are HIV negative.

Pregnancy causes a number of changes in the immune system and these changes can affect HIV-antibody-based test results. False-positive ELISA and/or Western Blot tests occur more frequently in women who are pregnant or who have had multiple pregnancies. Most often in these cases the Western Blot is indeterminate, as is the case with your test, rather than definitively positive. A non-antibody HIV test, such as a NAT or PCR, can be helpful to sort out true from false positives. Your NAT was negative. HIV is not your problem. No way. No how. OK?

Stay well.

Dr. Bob