which came out negative. My question is if the symptoms were truly ARS then PCR test would have found that or conversely if the PCR test came out negative then I can be rest assured that symptoms had nothing to do with HIV. IS it true or not ?
Sadly there is not a single incident or exposure I can refer to but three:
a. 16 weeks prior to the onset of symptoms I had a protected intercourse with a massage girl in which the condom broke. We stopped and immediately cleaned ourselves as soon as we realized this. The girl said she was clean but I am not sure about that.
b. 6 weeks prior to onset of symptoms & 4 days prior also I got an oil massage for 45 minutes ending in a hand job at both times. Both the times I had checked that there were no visible cuts on the hands of massage girl and none on my penis.
Testing I underwent for all these is
a. HIV proviral DNA PCR test at 5th week and 18th week after my first exposure
b. Antibody tests at 5th, 9th, 13th & 18th week after first exposure
All tests were negative. 18th week test is the test done 2 days after the symptoms had subsided which brings us back to the question I asked that if the symptoms were truly ARS then the last PCR test would have found that or conversely if the PCR test came out negative then I can be rest assured that symptoms had nothing to do with HIV. IS it true or not ?
M worried sick as can be gauged from the no of tests I underwent. I am quite healthy and normally don’t fall ill and never for more than 2-3 days but this 10 day flu like symptoms made me really worried. What should I do? Do I need any more testing?
Even though your only risk was when the condom failed, you were protected until it failed. PCR DNA tests are not diagnostic tests, but you did have a negative ELISA test beyond the window period. You are conclusively negative.