Aa
week 7 test's reliability
I had unprotected sex one time with a woman I met in a bar on August 4.
Two and a half weeks later I had a sore at the corner of my mouth. The sore went away after about 3 weeks. I thought it was herpes and freaked out / got really worked up. Hopefully this is the explanation for the symptoms I was / am having. But I am scared.
Around the same time (two and a half weeks out) I felt like I had a mild sore throat, though I smoke, so I attributed it to that. I also had sensitivity around the lymph nodes, particularly in my right groin, but the sensitity was only on one side. I had loose bowel movements, but again I attributed this to cigarettes and coffee drinking. I felt fatigued too, to the point that I almost fell asleep at the wheel once.
About 7 weeks out I had a raised red bump on my forhead, looked like a mole, but had never been there before.
Finally, between now and then I have had some incidence of folliculitis on my arms and fingers and have had flare ups of sebhorreic dermatitis (a condition I have had for years).
I don't think I had a fever and I never noticed any outbreak of spots on my torso.
Could all these things be anxiety? Or are these tell-tale signs of ARS?
How reliable is the 7 week negative (it was a blood test)?
What might cause a person to seroconvert later than another? I am otherwise healthy. I read somewhere that 85% of people will test positive within thirty days. This is comforting, but how reliable is that statistic?
Finally, where does the reseach come from that suggests that the odds of contracting HIV from someone infected are only 1 in 1000. This seems a remarkable and hard-to-believe statistic, given the number of people that are infected today.
Thank you so much doctor.
Two and a half weeks later I had a sore at the corner of my mouth. The sore went away after about 3 weeks. I thought it was herpes and freaked out / got really worked up. Hopefully this is the explanation for the symptoms I was / am having. But I am scared.
Around the same time (two and a half weeks out) I felt like I had a mild sore throat, though I smoke, so I attributed it to that. I also had sensitivity around the lymph nodes, particularly in my right groin, but the sensitity was only on one side. I had loose bowel movements, but again I attributed this to cigarettes and coffee drinking. I felt fatigued too, to the point that I almost fell asleep at the wheel once.
About 7 weeks out I had a raised red bump on my forhead, looked like a mole, but had never been there before.
Finally, between now and then I have had some incidence of folliculitis on my arms and fingers and have had flare ups of sebhorreic dermatitis (a condition I have had for years).
I don't think I had a fever and I never noticed any outbreak of spots on my torso.
Could all these things be anxiety? Or are these tell-tale signs of ARS?
How reliable is the 7 week negative (it was a blood test)?
What might cause a person to seroconvert later than another? I am otherwise healthy. I read somewhere that 85% of people will test positive within thirty days. This is comforting, but how reliable is that statistic?
Finally, where does the reseach come from that suggests that the odds of contracting HIV from someone infected are only 1 in 1000. This seems a remarkable and hard-to-believe statistic, given the number of people that are infected today.
Thank you so much doctor.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I have no further comments. Shadow, make a donation to a charity of your choice. The American Social Health Association (www.ashastd.org) or the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AMFAR) would be good options.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
This thread is over.
Talked to health dept on friday lady there says no need for retesting after 40 day neg test i just would like to know can you confirm that i do live in u.s. from my exposure that i had with the escort being the condom slipped off i think i am fine but just wanted your advise if you would give it thanks doc
Thanks doc
i will come back to let you know my results after the first of the year thats when i will retest
and i will be making a donation
i will come back to let you know my results after the first of the year thats when i will retest
and i will be making a donation
Wow great work and your experiance
and i dont think now any one should ask these
1.risk (high and low)
2Effect of Mode of transmission
key is test at 6 week and be sure and do at 12 week to be conclusivly negative
and i dont think now any one should ask these
1.risk (high and low)
2Effect of Mode of transmission
key is test at 6 week and be sure and do at 12 week to be conclusivly negative
no you said it all along i was just to upset but very calm now one last question do you recommend me retesting at 3 months i know i tested on day 40 two days shy of six weeks but everything i read says 22 to 34 days would be close to 90 to 95 percent if it was going to be positive again thanks doc and i really would like to make a donation to one of your charitys if you have one
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Congratulations. But of course you are the only person surprised by the result.
Dr H
i hope this does not upset you but i just wanted to tell you that i took my hiv test at day 40 and i found out today it was negative please do not ban me from this web site i have talked to a lot of great people here and sorry for all the anxiety but i feel so much better thanks
i hope this does not upset you but i just wanted to tell you that i took my hiv test at day 40 and i found out today it was negative please do not ban me from this web site i have talked to a lot of great people here and sorry for all the anxiety but i feel so much better thanks
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Even when a forum user like monkeyflower is willing to answer, it's unfair to the original questioner to carry on a separate dialog, and I had to delete your messages to each other. That's what the HIV Support forum is for. Sorry.
HHH, MD
HHH, MD
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Most important, a negative antibody test at 7 weeks is nearly 100% reliable. Further, your symptoms don't sound much like HIV--and even classical symptoms usually are due to other things. (Every single symptom caused by ARS also occurs with many other conditions, most of which are much more common than ARS.)
To the specific questions: Most of your symptoms sound like they could be anxiety-related; they are not "tell-tale signs of ARS". A negative test at 7 weeks is almost 100% reliable. It is unknown why some persons seroconvert more rapidly than others. With modern tests, closer to 90-95% of newly infected people have positive tests by 30 days.
The data on average transmission risk come from CDC, which calculated the odds from the overall rate of reported new HIV infections, the estimated prevalence of infection in those persons' sex partners, and the frequency with which people had sex with those partners. This estimate probably is more or less valid in the US and other western industrialized countries; contrary to your apparent assumption, HIV in fact remains rare in most heterosexual populations in those countries, when injection drug use isn't a factor.
But the 1/1000 estimate for vaginal intercourse clearly doesn't apply in some settings, such as sub-Saharan Africa. The reasons for the geographic differences are complex and not completely understood, but they include differences in background rates of STDs that enhance transmission, patterns of sexual behavior, and--very important--the stage of the epidemic. In a longstanding, "mature" HIV epidemic, as exists in the US, most infected people at any point in time do not have high viral loads and are not highly infectious. By contrast, in a rapidly spreading epidemic, as in (say) South Africa, more people are recently infected or have advanced AIDS, with high viral loads and are more infectious. Difference in the proportion of people taking antiretroviral therapy also affect viral load and overall transmission risk.
Bottom line: You can be certain you don't have HIV. If you want even more security, have a final test at 3 months. It will also be negative.
Regards-- HHH, MD
To the specific questions: Most of your symptoms sound like they could be anxiety-related; they are not "tell-tale signs of ARS". A negative test at 7 weeks is almost 100% reliable. It is unknown why some persons seroconvert more rapidly than others. With modern tests, closer to 90-95% of newly infected people have positive tests by 30 days.
The data on average transmission risk come from CDC, which calculated the odds from the overall rate of reported new HIV infections, the estimated prevalence of infection in those persons' sex partners, and the frequency with which people had sex with those partners. This estimate probably is more or less valid in the US and other western industrialized countries; contrary to your apparent assumption, HIV in fact remains rare in most heterosexual populations in those countries, when injection drug use isn't a factor.
But the 1/1000 estimate for vaginal intercourse clearly doesn't apply in some settings, such as sub-Saharan Africa. The reasons for the geographic differences are complex and not completely understood, but they include differences in background rates of STDs that enhance transmission, patterns of sexual behavior, and--very important--the stage of the epidemic. In a longstanding, "mature" HIV epidemic, as exists in the US, most infected people at any point in time do not have high viral loads and are not highly infectious. By contrast, in a rapidly spreading epidemic, as in (say) South Africa, more people are recently infected or have advanced AIDS, with high viral loads and are more infectious. Difference in the proportion of people taking antiretroviral therapy also affect viral load and overall transmission risk.
Bottom line: You can be certain you don't have HIV. If you want even more security, have a final test at 3 months. It will also be negative.
Regards-- HHH, MD
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