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Symptoms

I just talk to a health clinic in HK and they refer what WHO said that the first 8 -10 weeks of a new infected person should have no symptoms. Is it ture?
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Avatar universal
I don't know where they get that information from. I've been reading actual scientific reports and while the presence of symptoms in HIV+ people can range from 50-90% (ie. probably about one third show no obvious symptoms), the LONGEST time to ARS I have read about is 10 weeks and that would be the very far extreme case. It normally falls between 10-28 days. This is also what Dr H says.
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Avatar universal
Can you cite the link about the 10 weeks to ARS?
Thanks!:)
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Avatar universal
Hi there,
I'd say what they meant was that it can take as long as 8-10 years for HIV infected people to  begin to show symptoms after their initial illness.

ARS, if it happens at all, generally occurs within 2-4 weeks of infection. I would add, however, that only a doctor can diagnose ARS, and generally only does so if the person has had a high-risk event or a high risk partner in the preceding weeks:)
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Avatar universal
Hey there, just saw your lymph node question below, here's my response to your question!



flu doesn't always present with fever, it could present with chills.
It would be unlikely that your 10 week negative would change. I expect you to continue to test negative. Butyou're obviously anxious, so test again in a couple of weeks, not because I think anything will change but because it will put your mind at ease. Incidentally, the doc on here says that tests are always positive within two weeks of symptoms.

Incidentally, these swollen lymph nodes, are they visible? I'm just curious.

If the doctor says you're fine, you're fine:)
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Avatar universal
Hi dobber! How are you today?

So I have a printout of what looks like a poster in front of me. Have a look for the authors as follows...

P Vanhems, N Voirin, B Hirschel, D Cooper, L Perrin, J Vizzard, A Carr.
"Incubation and duration of specific symptoms at acute retroviral syndrome (ARS) are independent predictors of progression to AIDS"

I think these guys published quite a lot about this cohort of 70 patients, combined from France and Australia which they followed up for progression to AIDS. They initially published in Journal of Infectious Disease in 2000, so it's not that recent a study.

Their range for time to ARS was 5 to 70 days, with a median duration of 21.5 days. The middle third of their cohort ranged from 17-29 days. 91% of the patients had fever.

This is by far the widest range I've seen in any study, so I think it is a far extreme....
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Avatar universal
Thanks for the post. I don't see where it says 70 days for onset of ARS though?

I think the problem is that ARS mirrors so many other illnesses, and also that the patients who  presented themselves were probably having other risks. I couldn't be sure, but 70 days seems extreme, considering the median time to ARS is 21.5 days.

I'm ok today. Well actually I'm not, I'm terrified!
And lonely. But I'm holding up ok, hoping I'm just being silly.

Always good to talk to you though. How are you today?:)
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Avatar universal
In the initial cohort description, they quote the 5-70 days as the incubation period to ARS, but they never show a graph to indicate how many people are at the far extremes. They also have everything in there from oral ulcers through to fever but don't split it into individuals.

The fact that 2/3s of the patients fall in the less than 29 day category while only 1 third fall into the range of 30-70 days alone suggests that the 70 day one is a real outlier and could easily be symptoms induced by something else.

Hey - you're being silly! You were negative and so is she. It's just the waiting for her result which is just nervewracking.

I think that's also the real support from this Forum. It allows us to talk to other people because otherwise, it does feel really lonely when you can't talk to the people immediately around you.

I 'm pretty good today. I found the San Francisco city clinic site last night and it's the first official website I've seen that doesn't take a conservative approach and just puts in a table that there is no risk from insertive oral and cunnilingus. Nearly all the other official sites sort of say well there's theoretical risks and maybe 1 or 2 documented cases, blah, blah, blah, even Dr H will say the risk is "close to zero" and I can understand that because it's very difficult to say something has absolutely no risk, but the SF site just says possible risk = NONE. I know I've heard that from you and other posters, but it really nailed the point home that an STD clinic was willing to put that on their website.

That combined with my mood considerably brightening yesterday when you returned to the Forum has made me quite positive (thinking). You really do have an effect you know - don't ever believe you don't.
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Avatar universal
Mate did you say they put a poster up saying oral is No risk.
Makes me feel good. I had unprtected oral. Just feel better knowing an std clinic has put that up

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Avatar universal
The fact that 2/3s of the patients fall in the less than 29 day category while only 1 third fall into the range of 30-70 days alone suggests that the 70 day one is a real outlier and could easily be symptoms induced by something else.
I agree with that. I also think it's risky taking the word of patients regarding risks. In terms of risk level and testing, I reckon Dr. H hit the nail on the head when he said none of those HIV experts - 300 of them - had seen a 6-8 week negative turn positive later.

As for me, maybe I'm being stupid, I certainly hope I am, it's great to tune in here and chat to people like yourself. I just feel pretty down and ill at the moment, that can't be helping!

As for yourself, do you know what I think? I don't think it matters what that site, says or what I've said repeatedly. Until you can look in the mirror and say 'I had no risk' and believe me, you didn't, that's when this will all be over for you.

So give it a bash today, eh?

Hope all is well in Cardiff:)
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Avatar universal
They say only giving a BJ is a POSSIBLE, very, very, low risk. Other types = NONE.

Here's the website...

http://www.dph.sf.ca.us/sfcityclinic/stdbasics/stdchart.asp

May it make you and all the other worried wells with similar exposures cease worrying...:)
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Avatar universal
That I will!

I think the question is whether I can do that continuously, cos there are times when I'm really calm and enjoying life that I believe it anyway. It just doesn't last at the moment!!

Take care and don't get too down, though I can understand it if you're feeling under the weather as well. Tends to concentrate your mind on all the wrong things. Apparently, a really strong cup of coffee is as good as paracetemol for giving you an up when you've got a cold... :)
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Avatar universal
Thanks a lot.
Ah  hopefully this will all be over tomorrow!:)
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Avatar universal
Some people get symptoms some people don't.  That is why you never rely on symptoms to tell you whether or not you have hiv.  Hiv symptoms are similar to so many other infections/viruses.  
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Avatar universal
What is HK?
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