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STDs (Expert Forum)
testing and time
Answered by
University of Washington
Seattle - WA
This forum does not cover AIDS/HIV issues. This forum is for questions and support regarding STD issues such as: Chlamydia, Crabs (pubic lice scabies), Gonorrhea, Hepatitis (viral), Herpes, HPV, Molluscum Contagiosum, PID, Rectal Infections, Syphilis, Trichomonas, Warts, Yeast Infection.
IMPORTANT
This forum is limited to questions about STDs other than HIV/AIDS. For questions about HIV prevention, or if you have general questions about safe sex (e.g., condoms, how to protect yourself from HIV and STDs), please visit the HIV Prevention and Safe Sex Forum
Some of the most common types of questions concern the risk of HIV or STD after a particular sexual exposure, and about symptoms that might or might not be due to HIV. If your question is along these lines, please visit the HIV Prevention and Safe Sex Forum.
This forum is limited to questions about STDs other than HIV/AIDS. For questions about HIV prevention, or if you have general questions about safe sex (e.g., condoms, how to protect yourself from HIV and STDs), please visit the HIV Prevention and Safe Sex Forum
Some of the most common types of questions concern the risk of HIV or STD after a particular sexual exposure, and about symptoms that might or might not be due to HIV. If your question is along these lines, please visit the HIV Prevention and Safe Sex Forum.
testing and time
by Gabbag, Mar 02, 2006 12:00AM
Hello! Thanks so much for your help!!!
I just tested HIV negative at 10 weeks... I took a Home Access test... which is FDA approved. I asked the counselor on the phone if they used ELISA, and they do. My partner also tested negative. Should we feel free to engage in sex with one another? Is my 10 week result "good enough", and accurate?
Also, would it make any sense for a rash that I had last night to have come from the "HIV rash"? It was a strange thing... my legs felt a little "stingy" (for lack of a better word), they looked a bit red. I took a bath, as I do each night, and wow, it hurt... I checked out my legs and butt. My legs were red with spots (not really raised).. and on my butt were larger red bumps (some raised). Obviously, I stayed out of the tub. I took a benadryl in case it was an allergy to something. When I woke up, the rash was 95% gone... what does this sound like to you? It also occurred just a bit on my arm.
Thank you so very much for your help. You really make a difference for people. Have a good day!
I just tested HIV negative at 10 weeks... I took a Home Access test... which is FDA approved. I asked the counselor on the phone if they used ELISA, and they do. My partner also tested negative. Should we feel free to engage in sex with one another? Is my 10 week result "good enough", and accurate?
Also, would it make any sense for a rash that I had last night to have come from the "HIV rash"? It was a strange thing... my legs felt a little "stingy" (for lack of a better word), they looked a bit red. I took a bath, as I do each night, and wow, it hurt... I checked out my legs and butt. My legs were red with spots (not really raised).. and on my butt were larger red bumps (some raised). Obviously, I stayed out of the tub. I took a benadryl in case it was an allergy to something. When I woke up, the rash was 95% gone... what does this sound like to you? It also occurred just a bit on my arm.
Thank you so very much for your help. You really make a difference for people. Have a good day!
Doctor's Answer
by H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D., Mar 02, 2006 12:00AM
, Mar 02, 2006 12:00AM
Yes, Home Access is an ELISA. (To my knowledge, virtually all initial HIV antibody tests are use ELISA technology) (which is the same as EIA*.) And of course it is FDA-approved; otherwise the company could not market it in the US. See numerous other threads on "time to positive HIV test". The bottom line is that almost all HIV infected people will develop a positive test with 10 weeks. And a rash appearing more than 10 weeks after exposure is not due to HIV; and an HIV rash wouldn't clear up so fast. Allergy sounds possible, and would be consistent with rapid resolution and apparent response to diphenhydramine (Benadryl),
* ELISA = Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. EIA = enzyme immunoassay, basically a shorter way to say the same thing.
HHH, MD
* ELISA = Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. EIA = enzyme immunoassay, basically a shorter way to say the same thing.
HHH, MD
My question is this: I live in Massachusetts. I slept with a guy and the condom broke. He ejaculated inside me. When I asked him to get tested for HIV he refused, and that made me freak out. He says he "knows" he's negative (gave shoddy justifications for his supposedly definitive negative status). "Why wouldn't he just go test if he's negative?" is the thought that kept running through my head.
I had both a negative ELISA and oraquick test at 6.1 weeks after this potential exposure. They told me that as long as I wasn't undergoing chemo or any other immunosuppressive therapy, I could definitively know that I was HIV-negative. I ordered a HomeAccess test which I plan on taking today or tomorrow (about 9.5 weeks post-possible-exposure). What do you think about the Mass 6 week window? Does HomeAccess use the same generation testing as the state lab in Massachusetts (where I had my ELISA sent)? If so, would a negative result from that at 9.5 weeks be sufficient?
Thanks for your help.