Post PEP Conclusive???

[BigDunc]

Hello Ill keep this brief:

My exposure was a condom break with a csw in singapore.  PEP started withing 18 hours and followed correctly.

Tests: Duo 18 days post exposure, Duo 1 days post PEP, Multiplex 10 days post PEP, Rapid HIV 1&2 home test by CS innovations singapore at 3 and 5 months post PEP! I carried out 2 rapid tests on both occasions so 4 in total to be sure! (Used the lancet to prick my finger, added 2 drops of blood to the well and the required ammount of solution... the only line present was the control line) All negative!!!!!.  

No I now the home tests arent approved for home use here however the test I used is on the USAID approved list for field use and Im confident I carried out the test correctly.  Would you be confident with these tests I am HIV negative from these incidents.  The reason I have a slight doubt is I seem to have recently caught what seems to be Scabies and I had a swollen lymph node by my ear for a few months which seems to have gone.  With regard to the Scabies I have been to some festivals and staying in a lot of hotels/hostels recently!

Any closure on the matter would be much appreciated.  I do intend to go get an NHS test when I return to the uk in a few weeks but Id really like your thoughts.

Regards

Dunc

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Welcome back.  But you are re-asking questions that were answered definitively in prolonged threads a few months ago, both on this and the international HIV forum.  The answers are the same.  The bottom line is you had a low risk exposure, and I would not have recommended PEP.  However, your test results are reliable and you weren't infected; and scabies or a single lymph node of the head or neck does not even hint at an HIV infection.  I see no need for another HIV test by NHS or anywhere else.

Regards--  HHH, MD

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Self testing for HIV isn't approved in the US, or anywhere else as far as I know.  But all the rapid tests are pretty much foolproof and self testing probably will be approved someday.  You indeed can be 100% confident in the results.

[BigDunc]

Thank you Dr,

It was more the worry that Id carried out the rapid tests myself and this is still not approved in the uk yet as in the states.  Although knowing that the tests I used  are on the USAID list of approved tests for field use and the fact that they are simple to use I should be 100% confident in the negative results regardless whether they were I carried out by myself at home and not by a medical professional.

Thanks you again for your help that will be all from me.