Possible HIV exposure

[mauriceminor]

Hello Doctor

I am a 28 y/old heterosexual male.  9 weeks ago I got pretty drunk on a night out and don't honestly remember if I arrived home with a female and worse still if I had unprotected sex.  All I remember is waking up the following morning with no memory of how I got home.  It looked like others had been in the apartment with me but I can't be sure.

4 weeks post-exposure I developed a minor bladder infection and was tested for chlamidya/gonoerrhea which were both negative.  The bladder infection cleared on its own after a few days.  From 5 weeks to 9 weeks post exposure I developed a sore throat with swollen glands.  Around this time I was extremely anxious, stressed and depressed.  The sore throat / glands only improved after 3/4 weeks (I did not take any medication).

I had an STD screen performed 4 days ago and the test result will be due back in a week.

I would really appreciate a constructive and reaonable assessment of my risk / exposure.

Thank you

[mauriceminor]

Thank you for your response Doctor.  There were others with me on my night out.  The reason I got concerned that somebody may have been with me back in my apartment is because there was a pizza eaten when I got home after the night out and I dont remember eating the pizza!  Call it paranoia perhaps but I was worried that that was indicitive of somebody being in the apartment with me, etc.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to the Forum. I must say, it is hard to believe that you cannot even remember if someone came home with you or not.   Were there others with you on your "night out".  

At any rate, IF you arrived home with a female and IF you had sex the chances are that she did not have HIV.  IF she did (lots of if's here already), your risk of HIV form a single episode of vaginal intercourse is about 1 in 1000 (low).  Thus, your risk for HIV is rather low.  However, you have already been tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea so there is no reason not to add HIV to the list of things you can be sure you don't have.  At this time, 9 weeks following exposure, a single, standard HIV test will provide you definitive answers to whether or not you got HIV during your escapade.  I predict it will be negative.  

Hope this evaluation and suggestion is helpful to you.  EWH