When should you get tested?

If you are worried that you might have been exposed to HIV, you naturally will want to get tested as soon as possible. What should you do?

If you think you have been exposed to HIV, talk to your VA health care provider or a counselor about when you should be tested. For example, if you had unprotected sex with someone who is HIV positive, or the condom broke while you were having sex with someone who is HIV positive, see a doctor right away. The doctor may be able to perform a different kind of test called a polymerase chain reaction (commonly called PCR) test that can detect actual virus in the blood--not the antibodies to the virus. The PCR test can show up positive sooner than the standard test, even during the "window period."

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