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Missing hiv strain
Doctor,
I was in a relationship 2 years ago, had unprotected vaginal sexmultiple times, this was in India. Had various tests in usa after 2 years - hiv EIA 1/2, hiv icma 1/0/2, HIv duo test, hiv 2 specific EIA, hiv western blot, hiv 2 immunoblot, HIV 1 rna pcr qualitative, hiv 1 rna viral load, hiv 2 dna/rna pcr, oraquick advance 1/2 . All tests negative after 2 years of exposure.
1) I developed red, flat rash on face, upper body few weeks after expsoure. Exposure is multiple times, unprotected same person. What are my chances i missed a rare strain prevalent in India as the rash same i defined on various websites as flat, non itchy?
2) What do i do to rule out possibility of rare strains
3) what tests I need to do to r/o I,J,K strains as they are not present in pcr tests in usa as specified on lab websites?
4) can i trust my results as I had all my tests done through labcorp and quest through online websites /anonymous testing.
5) Are antibodies produced by all strains such as P strain and detected on tests?
6) I had my duo test after 2 years of exposure, will p24 disappear and antibodies are not produced for rare strain in my case? Is P24 present on all hiv strains?
I was in a relationship 2 years ago, had unprotected vaginal sexmultiple times, this was in India. Had various tests in usa after 2 years - hiv EIA 1/2, hiv icma 1/0/2, HIv duo test, hiv 2 specific EIA, hiv western blot, hiv 2 immunoblot, HIV 1 rna pcr qualitative, hiv 1 rna viral load, hiv 2 dna/rna pcr, oraquick advance 1/2 . All tests negative after 2 years of exposure.
1) I developed red, flat rash on face, upper body few weeks after expsoure. Exposure is multiple times, unprotected same person. What are my chances i missed a rare strain prevalent in India as the rash same i defined on various websites as flat, non itchy?
2) What do i do to rule out possibility of rare strains
3) what tests I need to do to r/o I,J,K strains as they are not present in pcr tests in usa as specified on lab websites?
4) can i trust my results as I had all my tests done through labcorp and quest through online websites /anonymous testing.
5) Are antibodies produced by all strains such as P strain and detected on tests?
6) I had my duo test after 2 years of exposure, will p24 disappear and antibodies are not produced for rare strain in my case? Is P24 present on all hiv strains?
Doctor,
Thank you for replying. I have been on internet for past 1 year everyday trying to solve my anxiety abt missing rare strains and get answers. The reason i am worried
1) My exposure was outside USA and I am woried about rare subtypes as india has high hiv prevalence as Africa and no one knows If the rare strains in africa are also prevalent in India
2) 99.9% of the time all the posts over here are about single time/protected exposure and I hardly see any question similar to my scenario
3) my expartner had multiple partners in past and also was sick and received blood transfusion in India, I found this later by others that worries me about rare strains. If I had expsoure in usa I would had lbeen more confident and believed my results but being outside usa worries me a lot.
4) I go through websites such as virusmyth, rethinking aids were there are scientists/ real doctors who doubt hiv tests accuracy
5) I also read case scenarios about someone presenting with symptoms years later and test from one manufacturer failt to detect infection and if repeated by other test kit from different manufacturer they tested positive.
6) As doctors say here the chances one hit by meteor are rare as similar to rare strains. but i feel it is much better to be hit by meteor than going through this hell as one has to got hrough this hell everyday and hit by meteor pain lasts only few seconds. just my thoughts. I know it was my mistake in trusting someone in first place.
7) I sometimes doubt my test results as they were from online company but again i think i went to labcorp and quest like others.
8) I tried to call cdc if there are any special tests fro someone exposed outside usa and i could not get accurate reply. I tried to contact labs and figure out the manufacturer of test kits and to my surprise they themselves dont know who the manufacturer is most of the times.Thank you once again.
Thank you for replying. I have been on internet for past 1 year everyday trying to solve my anxiety abt missing rare strains and get answers. The reason i am worried
1) My exposure was outside USA and I am woried about rare subtypes as india has high hiv prevalence as Africa and no one knows If the rare strains in africa are also prevalent in India
2) 99.9% of the time all the posts over here are about single time/protected exposure and I hardly see any question similar to my scenario
3) my expartner had multiple partners in past and also was sick and received blood transfusion in India, I found this later by others that worries me about rare strains. If I had expsoure in usa I would had lbeen more confident and believed my results but being outside usa worries me a lot.
4) I go through websites such as virusmyth, rethinking aids were there are scientists/ real doctors who doubt hiv tests accuracy
5) I also read case scenarios about someone presenting with symptoms years later and test from one manufacturer failt to detect infection and if repeated by other test kit from different manufacturer they tested positive.
6) As doctors say here the chances one hit by meteor are rare as similar to rare strains. but i feel it is much better to be hit by meteor than going through this hell as one has to got hrough this hell everyday and hit by meteor pain lasts only few seconds. just my thoughts. I know it was my mistake in trusting someone in first place.
7) I sometimes doubt my test results as they were from online company but again i think i went to labcorp and quest like others.
8) I tried to call cdc if there are any special tests fro someone exposed outside usa and i could not get accurate reply. I tried to contact labs and figure out the manufacturer of test kits and to my surprise they themselves dont know who the manufacturer is most of the times.Thank you once again.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to our Forum. The idea of rare strains which would not be detected by the tests that you describe is simply not realistic. If you were infected with any known strain of HIV, it would have been detected by the tests that you describe. To address your specific questions:
1) I developed red, flat rash on face, upper body few weeks after expsoure. Exposure is multiple times, unprotected same person. What are my chances i missed a rare strain prevalent in India as the rash same i defined on various websites as flat, non itchy?
Zero. This rash was not caused by any strain of HIV – your tests prove this. There must have been some other cause.
2) What do i do to rule out possibility of rare strains
You have already done more than enough tests to be confident that you are not infected with HIV of any sort.
3) what tests I need to do to r/o I,J,K strains as they are not present in pcr tests in usa as specified on lab websites?
They would have been detected by your antibody tests.
4) can i trust my results as I had all my tests done through labcorp and quest through online websites /anonymous testing.
Both labcorp and Quest are highly reliable labs. Results form them should be believed.
5) Are antibodies produced by all strains such as P strain and detected on tests?
Yes.
6) I had my duo test after 2 years of exposure, will p24 disappear and antibodies are not produced for rare strain in my case? Is P24 present on all hiv strains?
This is not an issue. If p24 were not present, antibodies would have been detected.
I hope these comments are helpful. The idea that despite the testing you have had, you might be infected with HIV is simply not realistic. If you have symptoms, you should have those symptoms evaluated by a trained clinician to rule out other possible causes. In addition, it appears you may be getting mislead form some source. If that source is the internet, I suggest you stay off it. EWH
1) I developed red, flat rash on face, upper body few weeks after expsoure. Exposure is multiple times, unprotected same person. What are my chances i missed a rare strain prevalent in India as the rash same i defined on various websites as flat, non itchy?
Zero. This rash was not caused by any strain of HIV – your tests prove this. There must have been some other cause.
2) What do i do to rule out possibility of rare strains
You have already done more than enough tests to be confident that you are not infected with HIV of any sort.
3) what tests I need to do to r/o I,J,K strains as they are not present in pcr tests in usa as specified on lab websites?
They would have been detected by your antibody tests.
4) can i trust my results as I had all my tests done through labcorp and quest through online websites /anonymous testing.
Both labcorp and Quest are highly reliable labs. Results form them should be believed.
5) Are antibodies produced by all strains such as P strain and detected on tests?
Yes.
6) I had my duo test after 2 years of exposure, will p24 disappear and antibodies are not produced for rare strain in my case? Is P24 present on all hiv strains?
This is not an issue. If p24 were not present, antibodies would have been detected.
I hope these comments are helpful. The idea that despite the testing you have had, you might be infected with HIV is simply not realistic. If you have symptoms, you should have those symptoms evaluated by a trained clinician to rule out other possible causes. In addition, it appears you may be getting mislead form some source. If that source is the internet, I suggest you stay off it. EWH
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