There are no definite symptoms of this infection. In the initial stage which is called Primary HIV Infection, some individuals may experience flu-like symptoms such as fever, swollen lymph glands, sore throat, rash, joint pain, diarrhea, headache, nausea and fatigue. All of these symptoms are very vague and can be caused by many other illnesses besides HIV. The only way to know whether somebody is HIV positive is by doing blood test for HIV. However, the test may not be accurate during the initial period because they may be in the 3-6 month window period.

The blood tests for detection of HIV infection can be broadly categorized in two types. They are direct and indirect tests. The direct tests detect the virus in the blood e.g. p24 antigen and PCR and indirect tests detect the antibodies to the HIV in the blood e.g. Elisa and Western blot.

The most common blood test for detecting HIV infection is ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). This test is an antibody test also called 'screening test'which is very sensitive and detects almost all persons infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) except during the first few weeks of infection. This is done in almost all the pathological laboratories. To be reported as positive by the ELISA test, at least 2 tests on the same blood specimen by two different antigens must react positively.

The Western blot test determines the body's immune response to a specific HIV particle. The Western blot test is an antibody test for detecting HIV infection. A negative HIV antibody test implies that the person probably have not been infected with the HIV virus.

If the results of the same test done 6 months later are still negative for HIV antibodies, it is highly unlikely that the person have been infected with the virus.