WORRIED ABOUT NEW SOUTH AFRICAN POLICY ON TESTING AND WINDOW PERIODS

Dear Councillors I am now very worried about my hiv status .Just under three years ago I had sexual intercourse with a prostitute from an unregulated brothel in Johannesburg ,South Africa.I was slightly intoxicated after whatching a game of rugby and solicited a prostitutes with a peer.Being in experienced i think the condom was not applied properly and I experienced some sores just under the head of my penis.I also experienced a mild fever,chills,runny stomach, swollen nodes around the lower pelvic region and sever joint pains.After testing out to six months several times and testing negative and decided to move on with lessons learned.

I was prompted to test again this week after coming across a government sponsored policy document on hiv testing:

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I TEST?

It is important to get tested regularly. All individuals who engage in risk behaviours should be tested every 3 months.
The risk
• • • • • •
categories include:
You have had unsafe sex with multiple partners You do not know the HIV status of your partner You are not sure if your partner is faithful You have been the victim of sexual abuse
You have contracted a sexually-transmitted infection (STI) within the last 10 years You or your partner have used intravenous drugs and shared needles within the last 10 years.

So this effectively now means that i will need to test until im over the 10 year mark? since i contracted an sti 2 and a half years ago?

[perry1229]

10 years? That is totally not true no way no how.

[RainLover71]

Thats all nonsense.Testing at 3 months post-exposure is 100%conclusive and reliable,there was no need to test out to 6 months.Read the statement correctly,it never says that you have to test for the next 10 years,re-read it properly.And after all of this,you never had a risk in the first place because you used protection and your negative test supports this aswell.Take care and be sure to read information more carefully next time.

[Goovie]

Thanks -i think perhapse what they mean is if i contacted an std within the last 10 years and did not test...that should be the marker....because if high risk means testing after 3 months and having a conclusive result..then it make sense....there is too much miss information even among the nurses at these testing clinics...they like suggest their own possition which can litterally kill you with worry.Thanks again.She must have touched me with contaminated fingers.

[RainLover71]

If any doctor or nurse tells you to test at 6 months post-exposure,then they no nothing about the hiv window period at all.3 months post-exposure is the official,conclusive hiv window period and has been since 2004,and anyone that tells you different is wrong.