I am a pre-final year medical student from India. On 11 May, a retropositive patient was admitted to the labour room in our hospital. (She underwent a CS an hour later). I accidentally placed my hand on a plastic sheet that had been spread over the bed used by the patient. There was no visible blood or fluid on the sheet, but i got extremely worried. Especially so since i had a four-day old small (less than 1 cm long) cut on my index finger. I washed my hands with soap and water and spirit.
I explained the situation to two of my professors in Medicine, but they were of the opinion that the cut had healed, and post-exposure prophylaxis was not warranted.
Three days later, (after having gone through a considerable volume of information on HIV) I noted that I had mild irritation of the pharynx. On palpating my neck, I was also able to feel two non-tender submandibular nodes, one on each side. The one on the left was about 1.5 cm long, rounded, soft, and mobile.The node on the right side was about 1 cm, somewhat flat, soft, and mobile.
I met a senior professor of Medicine once more but he said I was just anxious, and my throat seemed clear on examination.
Over the last 18 days (unto today), I have had intermittent mild irritation in my throat, and occasional mild odynophagia. I've also had minimal post-nasal discharge and throat discharge. The lymph nodes have become progressively smaller. The one the left side is now less than 1 cm, and the one on the right is barely palpable.
I have had no fever, rash, lymphadenopathy of other regions, myalgia, arthralgia, oral ulcers, weight loss, night sweats or altered appetite or bowel habit, which form part of the so-called 'acute retroviral syndrome'.
However, I have been left extremely worried. Do my symptoms suggest primary HIV infection? Or should I be consulting an ENT specialist?