Aa
Does diacerein affect hiv testing?
Hi, First of all, thank you for the great job you are doing here. I had a low risk (if any) exposure with a female sex worker of unknown std status (unprotected oral sex performed on me - protected vaginal sex). I did not think about it until 1 week after I started experiencing symptoms that COULD be hiv related (I know none of the symptoms are hiv specific). I had a 21 day hiv combi and a 28 day hiv duo ultra test, both of which were negative. I know my exposure was very little risk (probably zero if the condom did not break - didnt check at the heat of the moment) and my up to 28 day negative 4th gen hiv test is extremely encouraging and it is highly doubtful I am infected by hiv. My question however is, 1 week before the possible exposure and 5 weeks before last testing, I had stopped taking Diacerein, 100 mg daily, for my osteoarthritis. I had been taking the medication for 3 months at the time I stopped. I did some research on the Internet but my search did not bear any fruit. To the best of your knowledge, is diacerein considered among the substances (in specific the time frame and the amount I was taking) that could delay production of antibodies for hiv? If the answer is yes, would diacerein also mess with the p24 aspect of the test and do you think I should seek another form of testing, like PCR? Thank you in advance for your possible answer.
You had no risk so testing was a waste of time. It was incorrect to call zero risk a low risk because those 2 words have much different meaning and can't just be interchanged as if they are close enough to be the same. You didn't do any of the ONLY 3 risks below.
HIV is instantly inactivated in air and also in saliva which means it is effectively dead so it can't infect from touching, external rubbing or oral activities. It doesn't matter if you and they were actively bleeding or had cuts at the time either because the HIV is effectively dead.
Only 3 adult risks are the following:
1. unprotected penetrating vaginal
2. unprotected penetrating anal sex
3. sharing needles that you inject with. Knowing these 3 are all you need to know to protect yourself against HIV. Your situation is a long way from any of these 3.
Even with blood, lactation, cuts, rashes, burns, etc the air or the saliva does not allow inactivated virus to infect from touching, external rubbing or oral activities. The above HIV science is 40 years old and very well established so there is no detail that you can add that will make your encounter a risk for HIV. No one got HIV from the situation you encountered in 40 years and likely no one will in the next 40 of your life, so there in no more likelihood of HIV transmission happening than of you getting hit by a meteor as you read this.
HIV is instantly inactivated in air and also in saliva which means it is effectively dead so it can't infect from touching, external rubbing or oral activities. It doesn't matter if you and they were actively bleeding or had cuts at the time either because the HIV is effectively dead.
Only 3 adult risks are the following:
1. unprotected penetrating vaginal
2. unprotected penetrating anal sex
3. sharing needles that you inject with. Knowing these 3 are all you need to know to protect yourself against HIV. Your situation is a long way from any of these 3.
Even with blood, lactation, cuts, rashes, burns, etc the air or the saliva does not allow inactivated virus to infect from touching, external rubbing or oral activities. The above HIV science is 40 years old and very well established so there is no detail that you can add that will make your encounter a risk for HIV. No one got HIV from the situation you encountered in 40 years and likely no one will in the next 40 of your life, so there in no more likelihood of HIV transmission happening than of you getting hit by a meteor as you read this.
2 Comments
Actually a plane flew pretty low as i was reading the answer. Just for a sec, i thought... Joking aside, I did not use zero risk and low risk interchangeably, i believe i said 'probably zero risk if the condom didn't break'. Like i said i did not think of this episode of bumping uglies a second time as a risky activity until i started experiencing some symptoms, which is when i started wondering whether the condom stayed intact or used properly. I know though that there must have been gazillions of people who have experienced several symtpoms thinking they were hiv related when in actual fact they were not. Just for my piece of mind, i would still love to get a respond from someone who has an anwer to my diacerein related question. That being said, i truly appreciate your time and and effort in writing your response.
The condom is zero risk too since it didn't fail. fyi, if a condom fails it is a large rip down the seam and it hangs in tatters so both people quickly know so that didn't happen and they start asking each other questions about their status. No need for close inspections or water tests that some people do.
So you can still use the no risk classification for your encounter, just like you don't have to duck when planes fly low either because you will know that you are safe.
So you can still use the no risk classification for your encounter, just like you don't have to duck when planes fly low either because you will know that you are safe.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the HIV Prevention Community
Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV and STDs.
PrEP is used by people with high risk to prevent HIV infection.
Can I get HIV from surfaces, like toilet seats?
Can you get HIV from casual contact, like hugging?
Frequency of HIV testing depends on your risk.
Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) may help prevent HIV infection.
