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STDs (Expert Forum)
HIV 2
Answered by
University of Washington
Seattle - WA
This forum is for questions and support regarding STD issues such as: Chlamydia, Crabs (pubic lice scabies), Gonorrhea, Hepatitis (viral), Herpes, HPV, Molluscum Contagiosum, PID, Rectal Infections, Syphilis, Trichomoniasis, Warts, Yeast Infection.All questions will be answered by H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D. or Edward W Hook, MD.
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HIV 2
by passive143, Jan 12, 2006 12:00AM
Hey Doc, Thank you for this informative Forum. I am a male 27 years old, and I had unprotected oral sex with a woman(both ways, she did it to me and I did it to her), and we had protected vaginal sex. This incident happenned in the United States. It was a one night stand and I know will never talk or see this woman again. This happenned exactly 2 months ago. I went and did an OraQucik Test for HIV-1, at just over 3 weeks, 5 weeks, & just over 8 weeks, every time negative. My counslor mentioned HIV-2, and that is something found in West Africa or something (I have never been there).
So here are my questions:
1. What are the chances of HIV coming up between now and the official 3-month period everyone states?
2. The test says that it tests for HIV-1 only. Does it test for HIV-2 as well? Will HIV-2 come out through this test?
3. What are the chances that I got HIV-2?
4. Any other time frames that I should know about to go and get tested at other than the 3-month period?
Thank you so much for your help and God Bless.
So here are my questions:
1. What are the chances of HIV coming up between now and the official 3-month period everyone states?
2. The test says that it tests for HIV-1 only. Does it test for HIV-2 as well? Will HIV-2 come out through this test?
3. What are the chances that I got HIV-2?
4. Any other time frames that I should know about to go and get tested at other than the 3-month period?
Thank you so much for your help and God Bless.
Doctor's Answer
by H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D., Jan 12, 2006 12:00AM
, Jan 12, 2006 12:00AM
Wow! All that testing for a single episode of protected vaginal sex? The chance you acquired HIV is almost zero, certainly less than one in a million. (OK, maybe as "high" as 1 in 100,000 if your partner happened to have HIV, which she probably didn't.)
1) Search the forum for "time to positive HIV test" for giant amounts of reading on this topic. Virtually everyone is positive by 3 months, but with modern tests most infected people develop positive results by 4 weeks and it probably approaches 95-99% by 6-8 weeks. There is some debate around the specific figures, but the point it that it is not necessary to wait 3 months to get useful information, and I believe it is wrong to counsel people that they need to wait 3 months before first being tested. Anyway, with a negative result at 8 weeks, the chance your test will turn positive by 3 months probably is less than the chance you'll be struck by lightning--i.e., virtually zero.
2) Last I checked, roughly half the HIV tests being routinely used in the United States were dual HIV-1/2 tests. If your test says HIV-1 only, I'm sure that's what it was.
3) HIV-2 is extraordinarily rare in the US. I'm not sure that even one sexual transmission has been documented; most (all?) of the rare cases so far were acquired in other countries. So the chance you have HIV-2 is zero, for practical purposes.
4) Read the innumerable other threads on "time to positive HIV test". For most people in your circumstance, in which there is no medical indication for testing, only the reassurance, stress-reduction benefit, I recommend a single test at 6-8 weeks; or, if not too nervous and able to wait 3 months, a single test at that time.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
1) Search the forum for "time to positive HIV test" for giant amounts of reading on this topic. Virtually everyone is positive by 3 months, but with modern tests most infected people develop positive results by 4 weeks and it probably approaches 95-99% by 6-8 weeks. There is some debate around the specific figures, but the point it that it is not necessary to wait 3 months to get useful information, and I believe it is wrong to counsel people that they need to wait 3 months before first being tested. Anyway, with a negative result at 8 weeks, the chance your test will turn positive by 3 months probably is less than the chance you'll be struck by lightning--i.e., virtually zero.
2) Last I checked, roughly half the HIV tests being routinely used in the United States were dual HIV-1/2 tests. If your test says HIV-1 only, I'm sure that's what it was.
3) HIV-2 is extraordinarily rare in the US. I'm not sure that even one sexual transmission has been documented; most (all?) of the rare cases so far were acquired in other countries. So the chance you have HIV-2 is zero, for practical purposes.
4) Read the innumerable other threads on "time to positive HIV test". For most people in your circumstance, in which there is no medical indication for testing, only the reassurance, stress-reduction benefit, I recommend a single test at 6-8 weeks; or, if not too nervous and able to wait 3 months, a single test at that time.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
HHH, MD
I asked the testing lab if the test checked for HIV2 and they said yes it did. Question on the HIV2 thing again:
1. what is known about the window period for HIV2?
2. would it come up in a test at 8 weeks?
Thank you for your help.
2) Yes.
End of this thread.
HH, MD