HIV testing postive after 6.5 week negative result + mouth rash

[scaredworried123]

Hi Doctors,
         I had posted earlier to ask for your help and thank you so much for taking the time to help again. Here is the link to my previous question and your answers. http://www.medhelp.org/posts/HIV-Prevention/No-Fever-No-rash-usually--no-hiv/show/124606 . The result for the hiv test i took at 6.5 weeks was negative, and i was ready to take your advice and take it as conclusive until the cankersore and mouth sores in my mouth that started growing around 6 weeks remained until just a few days ago, which is around more than 3 weeks. It started off with a big cankersore inside my upper lip, then 2 small patches of red just under the upper lip on both left and right sides. Eventually the left red patch(where the cankersore is also located) spread and there had been darker sores (that look like dots) within that red patch. Sometimes there would be white tops on those sores, other times no. The sores would change locations within that red patch, The right patch started doing the same, and lastly inside the bottom lip I had a few sores as well. It scared me deeply as I realized that mouth ulcers are a sigh of ARS, and it was different from my regular cankersore episodes that I have often. All the other symptoms disappeared by 8 weeks, when I got my results back. I took another hiv test a few days ago (9.5 weeks after potential incident) but the results won't be back till next week. I am leaving the country for 2 months and may not be still here for the results, as well as to test for 3 months, thus i'm still very worried.  I've read that 6.5 week negative results rarely ever turn positive, and according to you is 95% accurate, however, aidsvancouver told me it is only 85 - 90% accurate and the nurses at the youth clinic warned me that it will give me false negatives even now at 9.5 weeks after exposure. Is this true? Thank you so much once again for your help!! Is it near impossible for my results to change to positive after a negative 6.5 week results?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

I told you an 8 week result is conclusive for you and so you have asked me if a 9.5 week is conclusive.  Of course it is.  And with that, this thread is over.  Further posts will be deleted without comment.  EWH

[scaredworried123]

9.5**

[scaredworried123]

Hi Doctor. I tested negative at 9.5 weeks. Do you think I can finally let it go? Traveling has given me more sores in my mouth, which continues to worry me. How conclusive is an 9/5 week test? Should I still go for one after 13 weeks?

[Vance2335]

This is not your thread, if you have a specific question for Dr.Hook or Dr.HHH then you must do what everyone else does and pay a fee to post your question. Dr.Hook kindly answered one of your questions but this is not how this forum works. Please follow the rules of the forum.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Sorry, this is a "what if" question.  The statistic, which are more useuful than "have you ever" questions tell is that at 6 weeks at least 95% but not all persons with newly acquired HIV will have positive tests.  That does not change the FACT that it is almost certain that you do not have HIV and that should be good enough for you. I would consider an 8 week test conclusive.  EWH

[scaredworried123]

One last question: Have you seen anyone with a 6.5 week negative ever turn positive in later weeks?

[scaredworried123]

Thank you so much for all your help Doc and thanks john703 as well for your reply! This will definitely lower my stress a bit, and help me sleep at better at night! I greatly appreciate your time and advice.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Thanks John703 for chiming in.  You are correct, there is virtually no chance that scaredworried123 acquired HIV back in April when she was exposed to her ex.

scaredworried703.  Your situation, like that of many of our clients represents a great example of the power of the internet not only to inform but also to mislead.  While there is much useful information available on the internet, much of it is also taken out of context or a bit unbalanced and some of it is just plain wrong.  Mouth ulcers ("canker sores") are not a sign of early HIV infection and even in later HIV infection, they are another of those non-specific findings which, WHEN CONSIDERED WITH OTHER FINDINGS, come together to create the clinical picture we see in HIV infection.  In your case you do not have other findings and, instead, you have strong evidence that you do not have HIV, including a negative HIV test at a time when well over 95% of person with HIV would have positive tests.

We do not debate other sources here but, with all due respect, it is clear that aidsvancouver is giving you very conservative advice.  Recommendations for testing at 3 and even 6 months are the result of two factors- data from older tests no longer used (you really do not need to worry about which generation of tests you were tested with, at this time virtually all tests are far more sensitive that they were even 2-3 years ago when the 3 month recommendation was made) and secondly, the fact that some, mostly governmental agencies which have to provide recommendations for virtually everyone without the sort of interactions such as those you get with your doctor or on personalized sites such as this one, feel the cannot "afford" to be wrong and therefore make recommendations and guidelines which leave most people unnecessarily nervous for 4-6 weeks longer than the 6-8 weeks it takes virtually everyone to develop HIV antibodies.  

I hope these comments help. Your test results will be negative.  You do not have HIV from the encounter you described.  Enjoy your trip.  EWH

[John703]

I am no expert and im sure he will respond with an opinion soon, but like you i am a hypochondriac and can tell you just from scanning this site that the docs here say that canker sores have never in any way been linked to hiv and can often times be influenced by stress. If you read further responses they'd estimate your risk if your partner was infected to like one in 500 or one in a thousand, they'd further explain to you that the likelihood that your ex if heterosexual was to have hiv is astronomically low, and then combining this with a test at 6.5 wks which would detect somewhere in the range of 90 percent or higher your odds would likely be statistically near zero. Considering that your partner having it is less than 1 in 1,000x the per risk act of like 1 in 500 or 1,000x the accuracy of a test at 6.5 weeks of over 90%, which would all make your odds near none for hiv at this point. I know that im no expert but i hope this will help you sleep at night because im pretty sure the doctor will respond soon with a similar comment and if you look through the archives there is alot on test times, single hetero acts and risk of partners based on their sex, sexual orientation and location. If you notice the doctors recomendations your odds are incredibly low for hiv.