window period after known exposure

[davemac5252]

anyone know the window period after known exposure..the word i hear is six months after a documented case..just up for discussion..

[Xhost]

Well, the truth is, if you have had unprotected vaginal or anal sex with someone *known* to have HIV, some doctors are going to recommend testing out to 6 months, just to be extra sure that you are indeed not infected.

I believe that the odds are a little lower than the previous poster suggested, but, in any event, they are still very much in your favor (if the scenario I described above applies to you). If you have tested negative at 12 weeks, there is no reason to believe that you will not do so at 6 months.

The window period is confusing, to be sure, and much of it is based on guestimates of the odds that you may have contracted HIV. A majority of the posters on this site had little to no risk of having done so, so the doc in the moderated forum says that a 6 week test is fine. For those with higher risk, I am sure he would say test out to 12 weeks (well, not sure, actually - perhaps he wouldn't). Not sure if he would suggest testing out to 6 months.

It seems to me that this might be a good question for Doc H in the moderated forum. My advice would to lay out your situation and ask the same question there as you asked here.

Good luck to you, and take care of yourself.

[Tommy420]

Hi Dave. Why don't you explain exactly what happened first. TO answer your question, the average window period is about 4-6 weeks. Now this being said, it means that "most" people will have a positive antibody test about 4-6 weeks after a known exposure if in fact they were infected with the virus. Six months is definitely not the norm. I got tested at 12 weeks and I felt very confident with my negative results. Also, it's important to note that, for example, if you had unprotected vaginal sex with a girl who was HIV+, then your chances of acquiring HIV from this one time encounter would be 1 in 20,000. That being said, don't stress out have take a test at 6 weeks. Happy holidays!