Aa
Need Advice
Hello doctors.
First of all i would like to thank you for your help. It is very appreciated.
I had what i consider a high risk exposure. I had unprotected vaginal and anal sex with a CSW in brazil. I was a little drunk and i very much regret my actions. I have been very anxious since then since i hace experienced the triad (sore throat, rash, and high fever) 17 days post exposure. I was so scared that i contacted the CSW and had to pay for her to get tested. She tested 5 weeks after exposure with an antibody only test which came back negative. I have never heard of the lab she tested so i am wondering if the test they performed on her is a reliable test (she did send me the results via email). I did not stop worrying so i decided to put my fears behind and i got testes exactly 55 days after exposure with a combo test (both antigen and antibody). The result cam back negative (thank god). It has now been 12 weeks after exposure and i am wondering if i should test again since my risk was high.
1. Should i test again due to my hogh risk exposure?
2. Can i be confident in the negative result of the duo test after 55 days.
3. Does my test result prove unequivocally that i did not get infected wth HIV?
4. Can i be 100% sure of the realibility of a duo test after 55 days?
5. Have you ever heard of someone that tested positive after having a duo test at the same time period that i have?
6. Can i have sex with my girlfriend without worrying about the risk of infecting her with HIV.
7. Wht would you do if you were in my situation? test again now that i am in the 12 week mark, or just forget about the whole thing and be confident in the test result?
I really appreciate the service that you doctors provide. I know you are some of the best doctors in the world regarding HIV.
First of all i would like to thank you for your help. It is very appreciated.
I had what i consider a high risk exposure. I had unprotected vaginal and anal sex with a CSW in brazil. I was a little drunk and i very much regret my actions. I have been very anxious since then since i hace experienced the triad (sore throat, rash, and high fever) 17 days post exposure. I was so scared that i contacted the CSW and had to pay for her to get tested. She tested 5 weeks after exposure with an antibody only test which came back negative. I have never heard of the lab she tested so i am wondering if the test they performed on her is a reliable test (she did send me the results via email). I did not stop worrying so i decided to put my fears behind and i got testes exactly 55 days after exposure with a combo test (both antigen and antibody). The result cam back negative (thank god). It has now been 12 weeks after exposure and i am wondering if i should test again since my risk was high.
1. Should i test again due to my hogh risk exposure?
2. Can i be confident in the negative result of the duo test after 55 days.
3. Does my test result prove unequivocally that i did not get infected wth HIV?
4. Can i be 100% sure of the realibility of a duo test after 55 days?
5. Have you ever heard of someone that tested positive after having a duo test at the same time period that i have?
6. Can i have sex with my girlfriend without worrying about the risk of infecting her with HIV.
7. Wht would you do if you were in my situation? test again now that i am in the 12 week mark, or just forget about the whole thing and be confident in the test result?
I really appreciate the service that you doctors provide. I know you are some of the best doctors in the world regarding HIV.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
That's ridiculous. When one has eaten makes no difference, and I have trouble believing the nurse really believes it. It that were the case, obviously testing centers would defer testing until several hours after eating. I fear your anxieties influencing the tone and style with which you ask questions and/or coloring your interpretation of the answers.
That indeed will end this thread. Please accept the science and the reasoned reassurance you have had and move on, secure in the knowledge you don't have HIV.
That indeed will end this thread. Please accept the science and the reasoned reassurance you have had and move on, secure in the knowledge you don't have HIV.
I just wanted to share with you that i had another DUO test today (just for reassurance) and it came back negative!!!!
The only problem is that the nurse who draw the blood told me that the test works better if i have not eaten anything 12 hours prior. This really worried me since both the test i had done my blood was drawn after lunch.
Is this true?
I promise this will be my last question before i leave all of this behind me.
You have been of great help. Feel free to close this threat after this. Thank you once again!!!
The only problem is that the nurse who draw the blood told me that the test works better if i have not eaten anything 12 hours prior. This really worried me since both the test i had done my blood was drawn after lunch.
Is this true?
I promise this will be my last question before i leave all of this behind me.
You have been of great help. Feel free to close this threat after this. Thank you once again!!!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Most experts consider the duo test to be 100% reliable at 4 weeks. But I have no doubt that, in the interest of conservative advice, many may say 99%. You need to understand that all estimates of HIV test performance are just that -- estimates. It is logically and mathematically impossible to prove a negative -- i.e. to prove that 1 in 1,000 or 1 of a million infected persons will not have negative tests at any particular point point in time after catching HIV. To my knowledge no professional who cares for HIV infected patients has ever reported having a patient with negative duo test beyond 4 weeks.
In any case, you are making the mistake of focusing only on the test result, as if that were the only evidence that you don't have HIV; i.e. you seem to assume that if the test is "only" 99% reliable, there is a 1% chance you have HIV. Wrong thinking. Based on the information provided, I judge the chance you caught HIV at no more than 1 in one to 10 million. Thus a test with 99% reliability reduces the chance you have HIV to somewhere from 1 in 100 million to 1 in a billion. Which is zero in my book and should be in yours. But of course you are free to have whatever additional tests you like, whenever you wish to have them. It's your money and your emotional energy being needlessly spent.
I strongly suggest you stop searching the web about this. There is no chance you have HIV. Accept it and don't second guess it.
That will be all for this thread.
In any case, you are making the mistake of focusing only on the test result, as if that were the only evidence that you don't have HIV; i.e. you seem to assume that if the test is "only" 99% reliable, there is a 1% chance you have HIV. Wrong thinking. Based on the information provided, I judge the chance you caught HIV at no more than 1 in one to 10 million. Thus a test with 99% reliability reduces the chance you have HIV to somewhere from 1 in 100 million to 1 in a billion. Which is zero in my book and should be in yours. But of course you are free to have whatever additional tests you like, whenever you wish to have them. It's your money and your emotional energy being needlessly spent.
I strongly suggest you stop searching the web about this. There is no chance you have HIV. Accept it and don't second guess it.
That will be all for this thread.
Thank you very much for your words doctor!!! They are highly encouraging. I had been reading through a lot of posts and have come to the conclusion that a DUO test 4 weeks after exposure is highly realible but not fully conclusive (99%). This still leaves 1%.
In your experience would you considere a 55 day DUO test 100% reliable. If you do, can you explain a little bit why it is so conclusive?
I have read everywhere that a an antibody at 12 weeks is 100 % and a DUO at 4 weeks is 99%.
In your experience would you considere a 55 day DUO test 100% reliable. If you do, can you explain a little bit why it is so conclusive?
I have read everywhere that a an antibody at 12 weeks is 100 % and a DUO at 4 weeks is 99%.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum.
HIV testing is pretty much foolproof; any basic lab can do it correctly and I'm sure your CSW partner's negative test result is valid. So you can be highly confident you were not exposed. And a negative duo test is 100% reliable any time more than 1 month after exposure; therefore you 55 day result is definitive. To your specific questions:
1) The CSW's test result shows this was not a high risk exposure. No more testing is necessary.
2-4) Yes.
5) This has never happened and I have not heard of such a case, even by rumor.
6) It isn't possible to infect her with something you don't have! So of course you can safely have unprotected sex with your regular partner.
7) If I were in this situation, I would have stopped testing after a single duo test at 1 month and/or after the negative test in the CSW, and that's when I would have resumed unprotected sex with my wife (if I had stopped at all -- which I might not have felt necessary). All the discussion about testing at 3 months is relevant only to antibody-only testing. With the duo test, it is unnecessary to wait more than 1 month for a definitive result.
Thanks for the thanks. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
HIV testing is pretty much foolproof; any basic lab can do it correctly and I'm sure your CSW partner's negative test result is valid. So you can be highly confident you were not exposed. And a negative duo test is 100% reliable any time more than 1 month after exposure; therefore you 55 day result is definitive. To your specific questions:
1) The CSW's test result shows this was not a high risk exposure. No more testing is necessary.
2-4) Yes.
5) This has never happened and I have not heard of such a case, even by rumor.
6) It isn't possible to infect her with something you don't have! So of course you can safely have unprotected sex with your regular partner.
7) If I were in this situation, I would have stopped testing after a single duo test at 1 month and/or after the negative test in the CSW, and that's when I would have resumed unprotected sex with my wife (if I had stopped at all -- which I might not have felt necessary). All the discussion about testing at 3 months is relevant only to antibody-only testing. With the duo test, it is unnecessary to wait more than 1 month for a definitive result.
Thanks for the thanks. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
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