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Indeterminate Western Blot
by Rainie58, Dec 06, 2007 07:44PM
I'm a 25 year-old heterosexual white female who had (drunken) unprotected sex around Christmas-time of last year. Since then, I have abstained, nor do I do any kind of IV drugs or other activities which would put me at risk. I am an otherwise healthy individual.
The week before Thanksgiving (of this year) I had my annual flu shot. (I've also had a Hep B. vaccine and the third shot of the series was given in May.) Also, the weekend before the blood was taken, I had a URI. The Monday after Thanksgiving I had my blood drawn and a full STD panel performed. Everything was negative, but for the HIV, they only ran a Western Blot, nothing else. The WB was "indeterminate" except for one of eight antibodies was "equivocal." (Equivocal to what, I don't know.) The medical assistant that first called me back said I was positive, then changed her story to "equivocal from one strain." The nurse practitioner couldn't tell me which one it was (I don't know if she didn't have the results in front of her, if they didn't tell her, or if she just didn't know).
My question is this: What do I do now? Precisely what does this mean? What further follow up (lab work, etc.), if any, should there be? Is there a big cause for concern, give my history? Would a CBC show any kind of immunocompromise?
I've read the ELISA is the first test to do. The NP said she just ordered "HIV Panel," and the lab automatically did a WB. She said the ELISA is for larger scale screenings, such as those for blood banks, etc. Since there was no ELISA performed, should I disregard the WB? Any kind of information given to help me get a larger picture of this problem would be GREATLY!!!! appreciated.
The week before Thanksgiving (of this year) I had my annual flu shot. (I've also had a Hep B. vaccine and the third shot of the series was given in May.) Also, the weekend before the blood was taken, I had a URI. The Monday after Thanksgiving I had my blood drawn and a full STD panel performed. Everything was negative, but for the HIV, they only ran a Western Blot, nothing else. The WB was "indeterminate" except for one of eight antibodies was "equivocal." (Equivocal to what, I don't know.) The medical assistant that first called me back said I was positive, then changed her story to "equivocal from one strain." The nurse practitioner couldn't tell me which one it was (I don't know if she didn't have the results in front of her, if they didn't tell her, or if she just didn't know).
My question is this: What do I do now? Precisely what does this mean? What further follow up (lab work, etc.), if any, should there be? Is there a big cause for concern, give my history? Would a CBC show any kind of immunocompromise?
I've read the ELISA is the first test to do. The NP said she just ordered "HIV Panel," and the lab automatically did a WB. She said the ELISA is for larger scale screenings, such as those for blood banks, etc. Since there was no ELISA performed, should I disregard the WB? Any kind of information given to help me get a larger picture of this problem would be GREATLY!!!! appreciated.
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Is there a moderator to this forum that could please delete this? Thanks :)