Am I free oh hiv and stds? Do I still need any testing?

[denver0014]

Hi doctor, I will briefly explain my encounters

First time I had a protected sex in feb 2010 with a csw and then on I have couple of sexual encounters with csws till 2011 august , all together I might had sex with csw's atleast for 12 times. And all we're protected and I don't know there status. I remember there was a condom break with stripper back in mid 2011 and as far as I remember rest al were protected atleast I dint notice. Also with in 2010 to 2012 I had received atleast 5 unprotected blow jobs (oral sex) only getting sucked out of which last one was in august 2012 after that I dint had any sexual encounters either oral or penetrated . After my last incident in 2012 I was a bit worried about that oral sex exposure as I got it from a black lady of unknown status and I got tests after one week , 4 months after the exposure and the results were negative . The tests were antibody tests blood drawn from finger. I was still concerned thinking as some websites say conclusive after 6 months so at 11 months I had a complete std screening including hiv at labcorp I don't know if it's for hiv 1 and 2 or just hiv 1. Now it's been almost 15 months I still feel bit worried even if I see a small pimple on my body . Now the questions I have are

1 . Do I stil need testing for either stds or hiv?
2) what is the sensitivity and reliability of tests I have taken?
3 for some reason if the tests were wrong would I get any serious symptoms by now?
4 I have been getting pimples on my scalp does this have anything to do with hiv? Is this a valid symptom ?

Finally I would like to say thanks in advance and sorry my post is too big

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Welcome to the forum.

Condoms work; oral sex (even without a condom) is low risk for all STDs and zero risk for some, including HIV; and the HIV and STD tests are extremely reliable.  The standard HIV tests at LabCorp cover HIV-2 as well as HIV-1.  As for websites that cite such long testing intervals, they are just plain wrong.  See the thread linked below, as well as the other thread linked in that one:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/1891685

To your questions:

1) No further testing is needed.

2) Sensitivity 100%, i.e. false negative results do not occur more than a few weeks after exposure.  Specificity is irrelevant -- that comes into play only when a test is positive and you might worry about false positive results. (But the specificity of HIV testing also is almost 100%.)

3) You would not necessarily have any symptoms. But the tests are not wrong.

4) Pimples on the scalp or anywhere else do not suggest HIV or any other STD.

I hope this has been helpful.  Do your best to put this behind you and move on without worry.

Best wishes--  HHH, MD

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

If a test is designed to be done on a single drop of blood, and if the procedure is performed properly, the test is accurate.  There is no chance your test result was false negative.  Do your best to accept the scientific evidence and move on.

[denver0014]

Thanks for the help doctor. I would like to ask one last question regarding testing methods .

I have seen  many posts in this forum were people keep talking about pcr test and RNA . But the tests I have done are just antibody tests and the blood used for that tests is only a small drop I would say even lesser took from my thumb  , will that amount of blood will be sufficient to test for hiv .

Also do I need to get pcr test for more accurate result ? Or antibody is as accurate as the other costly tests?

What is the chance of false negative at 10 months after last exposure?

Sorry doctor I know again I'm asking same thing with different words but this will be my last.