Can I get any relief from these test results?

[alex24innewyork]

Hello Doctor. On February 6th I went out with some friends for drinks, things got messy and I ended up blacking out part of my night. I am not sure whether or not i may have hooked up with anyone or not, so ive decided to treat this as a high risk scenario. 2 days after i started to come down with some bug and for about a week or two i had sore throat and sweating at night. I had a low fever on one day. By this point my anxiety was through the roof.
a little over 3 weeks after this I had an Oraquick Advanced Rapid Hiv 1/2 done with finger prick and a blood PCR Test done at a NYC Department of Health Clinic. The Oraquick Advanced Rapid Hiv 1/2 was negative. Two weeks later i got again, went to the doctor and it turned out i had strep throat. A week after this, so three weeks after going to the clinic, i got my PCR test results and they were negative.  A week later, six weeks after my potential exposure, i had another Oraquick Advanced Rapid Hiv 1/2 test and it was negative.
I have been spending the past weeks researching everything i can about HIV, and although i know that 3 months is the conclusive mark, i am wondering if at this point i can say things are looking good? I dont really have any symptoms except that i have noticed my appetite is not what it normally is. I don't know if this is due to anxiety or what. Are these test results a good indicator?
Thank you.

[alex24innewyork]

Hi Dr Sean,
I just wanted to let you know I got another test last week and it was negative also. That was my 8 week mark. The dr at the clinic has told me that i can lay this issue to rest. He seems to think that with teh PCR test and the negative at 8 weeks, this is conclusive. Do you agree? I am in New York and he says with the tests they use here, the Oraquick Advanced HIV 1/2 with blood, that almost everyone that is positive will do so within a month. What do you think?

[Dr Sean Cummings]

Hi Alex, yes indeed, I am a doctor - we had a power cut affecting the entire street so our emails and web connections were a little astray and I ended up as Merv and Merv as me-we don't even look the same! The PCR is new and consequently controversial but it is certainly reliable. The oraquick was far too early - hence useless in your circumstances. For its intended interval at 12 weeks/three months it is very good.

best wishes, Sean

[alex24innewyork]

Thank you Sean. Are you a doctor? I couldn't help but notice the name on the by line for your responce was different. I just wanna know where my info is coming from.
Thanks for your response regarding the PCR, this seems to be a very controversial test. Re: the Oraquick Advanced Rapid Hiv 1/2, would you say this would a yield a reliable (if not conclusive) result at the 6 week period, when i last had it? I am a little confused by your comment on the test being useless. Thank you for taking the time to respond.
-Alex

[Dr Mervyn Tyrer, MB BCh; Dip HIV Medicine, Freedomhealth London]

Hi Alex, you're absolutely fine = certainly not HIV positive. I agree with the statement that the PCR is near 100% accurate - remember that no test is 100% accurate - apparently a statistically impossible scenario. So having a test which is as near as possible to this is excellent. The Oraquick at that point is useless in respect of your supposed event.

Remember also that you've assumed a worst case scenario but it probably didn't happen anyway.

I am certain from what you've said that you are not HIV positive but you did just have a strep throat.

Very best wishes, Sean

[alex24innewyork]

Also, just one more thing. The reason I ask is that there is so much conflicting information on this. The HIV counselor  at the clinic told me the acute hiv test the new york city clinics does is nearly a hundred percent accurate after 10 days, which was very reassuring to me. I have been told this by the Department of Health STD line as well. But i have been spending a lot of time on the web and there is a lot of conflicting information on this.