HIV testing

The test for HIV is called an HIV antibody test. Antibodies are the body's  response to an infection. Antibodies normally begin to appear in your blood a few weeks after you become infected with HIV.

The HIV antibody test detects the presence of antibodies to HIV in the blood or saliva. It is easier and cheaper to detect antibodies to HIV than it is to look for the virus itself.

Even if you're found to be HIV antibody positive, this doesn't predict which   HIV–related conditions may or may not develop. All it tells you is whether there are HIV antibodies in your blood. It is not a test for AIDS.

HIV (or Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is the virus that can cause AIDS. But not everyone with HIV infection has developed AIDS. In fact, we know that after being infected for ten years, about one in three people still don't have any symptoms of AIDS.