HIv again question?

Ok. I'm just starting to get a grip on some of the details of HIV, I would still though like to know how the Mainstream addresses claims like I keep reading..
things like the following:

"The modern diagnostic tests of today test for antibodies not the virus. We are told the antibodies are HIV specific, But none are!"

then they say ... "The antibodies that are detected can also be found in people without HIV, and then they say...in fact many of the antibodies found in HIV tests are also found in illnesses like lupus, Rheumatoid arthritis, malaria, and the common flu"

I honestly trust the establishment but I am new to this and am curious what is wrong about those statements because they make me nervous, and I'm not knowledgable in medicine. What do they really find in HIV that makes them know it is the HIV and not something else?

As far as I know, when they test you for HIV they test you for antibodies against HIV and not the virus itself. This website might be of help to you - hope you can find what you're looking for.

http://www.hivtest.org/subindex.cfm?fuse...

Yes, HIV status can be easily tested by testing autibodies. In my option, HIV is mush small than antibodies. Testing antibodies is easier. Maybe you can check the HIV blog:
http://www.positivesingles.com... Report It

did you know if you had chicken pox when you were young , you have the chicken pox anti-body. Therefore according to hiv testing you must still have chicken pox. here is another site concerning the other side of hiv.........http://www.aliveandwell.org/ Report It

OK, no test in medicine is perfect. This is hoe the test for HIV is done:
1. First they do an ELISA which is very senstitive. This test catches all of the true positives but, as you mentioned, also catches some false positives.
2. Then Wester Blots are done on all the positive ELISAs. Western Blots are very specific and have (essentially) no false positives.

So in medicine a sensntive test is used for screening (to rule diseases out) and a specific test is used for diagnosis (to rule diseases in).

I should also mention that these tests look for more than one antibody response.

Also, there is a test that can look for the virus DNA itself. This test is expensive, very sensitive, but not very specific. Other virus DNA can cross-react with this test and give you a false-positive.