pretty worried

[boh19]

Hi doctor. 2 weeks ago I was donating plasma at a local facility.  They test the first couple donations for diseases like HIV, Gonorrhea, Hepatitis, etc.  My first donation was on April 1st and my second on April 3rd.  When I went in for my third donation this past Wednesday they provided me with a paper saying my HIV-1 test for my first donation came back indeterminate.  According to the papers this means it was neither positive nor negative and an indeterminate result is generally not significant if you dont participate in high-risk activities (male-male sex and needle sharing).  The lady told me as long as I had not been engaging in such activities I probably should have nothing to worry about.  She also told me they only receive paperwork from the lab if there is a problem with the testing and they typically receive it within 10 days.  My Wed. visit was more than 10 days after my second donation, and she told me they hadn't received anything from the lab, leading me to assume the results from my second donation were fine.  Now this left me perplexed and worried.  I would consider myself pretty safe (no high-risk activities, condoms all other times).  I have had unprotected sex 3 times in my life.  One time in July 04.  One time in August 06 with a girl who in the last 6 months has told me she has tested negative for any STDs.  I have been in a positively monogamous relationship since August 07 in which we have had unprotected sex since then.  7 weeks ago my girlfriend got a multi-STD test at her gyno and everything negative.  What are the chances my gf's test was wrong after >6months unprotected sex?  Assuming a positively monogamous relationship how worried should I be?  P.S. I am scheduled to get tested next week.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Glad to hear it.  No need for further testing.  you are good to go.  EWH

[boh19]

Hey Doc.  Pleased to say I got my test results back today and they were negative.  Do you suggest I get tested again in a few months or am I good to go?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

the testing at the blood banks is designed to protect transfusion recipients and, as a result they would rather throw out uninfected blood than take any chance whatsoever that they might give someone infected blood.  False positive results are rare but they do occur, usually in situations such as yours.  False positive blood tests can be transient and go away shortly (weeks after they occur) or they can be life-long.  As for why you had the false positive it is hard to say.  IF it goes away it may have been a reaction to some other sort of infection (not STD).  If not, again, hard to say but something to be aware  of but not to worry about.  From what you tell me the testing that you've had will most likely come back negative.

As for your exposures -very low risk. HIV is not tranmitted in or on swimming pools unless you are having sex there.  

Hope this helps.  Please let us know how your tests come out.  EWH

[boh19]

Also I want to add that a month ago I was in Mexico for Spring Break.  The first day I was there I cut myself in the pool and had open wounds on my foot and knee for the remainder of the week.  I had minimal neosporin to apply a couple times.  I continued to swim in the pool/walk through the water splashed around the pool (which many unsanitary things happened in I'm sure) with my open wounds for the remainder of the week.  I think my cuts may have got infected as they still have not completely healed in over a months time.  2 questions.  Could I potentially have gotten a disease this way?  The lady at the plasma center indicated a possible infection because of the cut could have thrown off the results.  Is this true?  Thanks a lot for your help.