Reliability of Test Results

Doctor,

7 weeks ago I had a pretty low risk exposure (unprotected vaginal intercourse with a woman that I have known for years) and due to my anxiety I went and had an HIV RNA PCR test done that also included an antibodies test 19 days after the exposure.  Both tests came back negative.  Three days ago, I developed flu like symptoms (low grade fever, slightly swollen glands, cough, runny nose, fatigue, and chills).  My question is, can I be confident in my RNA PCR results and consider myself to have the flu.  I know it may be paranoid, but my anxiety is getting the best of me.  

Thank you for your time.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

It is unlikely that your flu-like illness is due to HIV.  It has occurred too late following the exposure you describe.  

We do not recommend PCR tests for HIV diagnosis.  The are not approved for this purpose and they clearly have problems with false positive test results. Less is known about how well they work for diagnosing the infection or precisely when they turn positive. I am sure that whomever you bought this test from will tell you that their results are accurate and indeed, they probably are.  If you had had a negative antibody test at this time, I would tell you the same thing.  As for the HIV PCR, as I said, this is probably good evidence that you do not have HIV but I cannot tell this with assurance based on scientific studies.  This is particularly true as your encounter was very, very low risk to start with.  EWH

[jrsquaredtech]

Thank you for your comments.  I purchased the test through STDweb.com and had blood taken at LabCorp, and yes STDweb seems to stand by the test, although I am not sure on what grounds.  One more question though - since I had both the PCR and antibodies test done, and one looks for the virus and the other the antibodies, wouldn't one of these tests return a positive result after almost three weeks if I was truly exposed to the virus?  I only ask because I don't want to seek further testing if it is unneccesary.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Probably, I just do not know enough about the PCR test (nor does anyone) to tell you how good a test it is.  EWH