Up-to-date, reliable HIV and sexual-health knowledge.
A NAT (Nucleic Acid Test) looks for the virus’s genetic material directly, so it detects HIV the earliest — around 10–14 days after a risk. Here’s how NAT works, how it differs from antibody testing, who it suits, what it costs, and its limits.
A 4th-gen (Gen 4) HIV test looks for both the p24 antigen and antibodies in one test, so it detects HIV sooner than antibody-only testing. Here’s what Gen 4 detects, how accurate it is at 14 days, how it differs from other tests, the cost, and when to test.
The HIV window period is the time after infection when a test can still miss it, giving a false negative. Here’s how soon each test can detect HIV, why a 90-day confirmatory test is advised, and the truth behind the “blood changes colour” myth.
