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Immunodeficiency and hiv testing
Hello.Aproximately 2 months ago I had an encounter with a prostitute.Unfortunately the condom broke and I was exposed on her fluids.Her hiv status is unkown to me.I was told that I can have my hiv test 2-3 months after the exposure.I have some skin conditions like rosacea and eczema so after my incident they just got worst than ever.I got really scared and went to an dermatologist and he sent me to an alergist/immunologist.He told me that I seems to have an immune deficiecny causing me the skin conditions and consant sinus problems during the winter.Anyway he suggests that I take a PCR DNA HIV TEST becaouse the antibody test could be not accurate in my case.He also suggests that I have to consult and hiv specialist for this.My problem is that pcr tests are very expensive and so I would like to ask if is there a good chance that the antibody test is not accurate and pcr dna tests are advised.Thank you.
Best Answer
No. It won't have an effect. The only time that it might have an effect is when your immune system is compromised artificially, like potent immune supressing drugs administered after an organ transplant, chemo therapy for cancer, administration of nPEP or chronic and prolonged injection drug use.
I do not believe that this is my case.I do not have serious health problems.As a child I did have many health problems though. I got sick allmost every 2 weeks with very high fevers,ear infections,asthma and severe coughing even when I was not sick,taking antibiotics and cortizones and steroid treatments allmost everyday for many years.Thats the reason I thought that maby my body isnt producind enough antibodies for the test to catch at 3 months.
If your body couldn't produce antibodies you would be in a sterile hospital room with positive pressure air ventilation.
Thats good news considering that the pcr tests are really expensive and hard to find! I only got scared because i was early born and according to the doctors I had a compromised immune system even developed chlidhood asthma and had taken cortizones and amoxil for many years untill I reaced puberty.So the immunology said that some people are born not being able to produce enough antibodies or none at all,it got me thinking.Anyway you are the expert so I will take your oppinion and test at three months! Thank you!
Thanks for the reply! so my immune dissorder will not interfere with the accuraty of the antibody resaults? Is there a chance that my body can't produce the amount of the antibodies for the test?Or if that would be the case,how could I be sure for this,is there a procedure that can test my bodies capabillity to create antibodies?
A PCR test would be a waste of time and money. You are right, they are expensive but more importantly should not really be used for diagnosis.
In your situation you could take a simple antibody test now ( 2 months post exposure) and that would give you a very solid indication of your status .
Then at 12 weeks or three months take another antibody test to confirm your first one.
In your situation you could take a simple antibody test now ( 2 months post exposure) and that would give you a very solid indication of your status .
Then at 12 weeks or three months take another antibody test to confirm your first one.
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