HIV Tests Are Not HIV Tests‪.‬

Introduction So-called "HIV tests" have not been proven to detect infection by HIV (human immunodeficiency virus, a retrovirus), even though for more than a quarter century these tests have been widely used to diagnose such infection. Manufacturers of the test kits do not claim that the tests detect infection. (1) The tests are for antibodies (2) and were approved only for screening blood, where sensitivity rather than specificity is the prime criterion and false positives are of relatively little concern. Technical discussion (3) of how to detect HIV infection makes plain that in themselves the tests are insufficient to diagnose infection. In point of fact, "positive" "HIV" tests may be the result of dozens of such conditions as hypergammaglobulinemia, tuberculosis, vaccination against influenza, (4) receipt of tetanus immune globulin, (5,6) or even pregnancy. (7-9)