What Does 'non-reactive' Mean When Testing For HIV? - Aidsmap

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Roger Pebody July 2025 A close-up image of somebody holding an HIV test between two of their fingers. The test has not been taken yet and is blank. The person is wearing blue surgical gloves. The image has a pink and purple filter over it. CI Photos/Shutterstock.com

If you have been tested for HIV infection, you may be told that the result is ‘non-reactive’.

This means that the test did not find any evidence of HIV infection.

You can be confident that you don’t have HIV and that you are HIV negative, so long as you have not been exposed to HIV quite recently, during the test’s window period. HIV diagnostic tests may miss infections that have been acquired in the month before testing.

Next review date This page was last reviewed in July 2025. It is due for review in July 2028. Related topics Testing & health monitoring Types of HIV tests Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Print

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