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What is an HIV test?

Most HIV tests detect the antibodies that the body produces to fight HIV once infection has occurred, but do not test for the virus itself. It usually takes three months for people infected with HIV to develop enough antibodies for HIV to be accurately detected by the test, but it can take longer. Most people will develop detectable antibodies within two to eight weeks (the average is 25 days), but it can take up to six months. This is known as the "window period", when an individual may be infected with HIV, but may not yet test positive.