HIV positive

Hi,

My name is Geeta Ram. I have completed my M.B.A (HR) and working in company. Ram is my finacee we got engaged last year and we have committed once.
But he is no more in this world because he is a HIV Positive as if the reports shows. He committed suside and i dont have any idea about the infection it is there in me or not.

Can you help me out in this matter how to test my self and how to approach a doctor. I am afraid about my family what they will think about me.

So, hope i will receive a apositive feed back with your organisation.

Regards,
Geeta.
geeta.***@****

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello Geeta,

I am so sorry for what has happened to your fiance.However, your HIV status needs to be checked essentially. Many people do not develop symptoms after they first get infected with HIV. Others have a flu-like illness within several days to weeks after exposure to the virus.

Complete blood count can give a hint to HIV as they show some blood changes like thrombocytopenia(low platelets),neutopenia(low neutrophils)and eosinophilia(high eosinophils).All these changes can be caused in many other illnesses.So confirmation is only done by specific tests for HIV like western blot,PCR and ELISA.These tests may show accuracy after 6 weeks to 6 months as HIV antibodies take time to develop in the body.So pls get ELISA and western blot done to check your HIV status.

Some countries have HIV testing done at home.For this HIV kits are available in the market. The testing procedure involves pricking your finger, placing drops of blood on a specially treated card, and then mailing the card in for testing at a licensed laboratory.
The test uses traditional ELISA and Western blot procedures and has been shown to be as reliable as HIV tests used by doctors and hospitals. People who use this test are given a 14-digit identification number to use when phoning for the test results in 3 business days.

If these kits are not available(can’t confirm their availability in India), then you can go in for anonymous HIV testing. Anonymous testing means that absolutely no one, except yourself, has access to your test results because your name is never recorded at the test site.You can gain more information about this from the following website:
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/hiv_testing/page2_em.htm

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted on how you are doing and if you have any additional queries.