Re: Is an AIDS test still as reliable when complicated by Lupus & its symptoms?

Your question is interesting.  I don't know the answer for sure, and you 
may want to ask a doctor, although I did some research in the medical 
literature and I'll tell you what I found.

Basically, I could find no examples of an HIV test being falsely negative 
due to lupus.  In other words, if the test result comes back negative, it 
really is negative.

On the other hand, there are some examples of false positive tests in 
people with lupus (i.e. the test result is positive, but this is not a 
true positive result indicating HIV).  (Reference: Semin Arthritis Rheum 
1993 Aug;23(1):1-7 "False-positive human immunodeficiency virus testing in 
patients with lupus erythematosus." authors: Barthel HR, Wallace DJ, 
Division of Rheumatology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA)

These false positives were coming out in a type of HIV test called an 
ELISA test, and upon further testing by a test called Western Blotting, 
the result was inconclusive.  Nowadays, there is a third type of HIV test 
which can directly detect virus, and I could find no example of this type 
of test giving a false positive result due to lupus.

Hope this helps.