This information doesn't change my opinion or advice. Since you don't have HIV (and could not possibly have caught it from the exposure described) it is impossible you gave her HIV.
Please accept the reassurance, and the reality you don't have HIV, and move on. That's all for this thread.
Doctor, last week I heard from my ex partner that during a routine blood donation that the levels of Globulin were high around the 175mark and that the nurse had mentioned that its usually related to infection either bacterial or viral which made me worry. Could this have any relation to HIV if I had it and passed it onto her?
Thank you for your time and advice
I already said it is impossible you have HIV, even if that particular word didn't appear in my reply.
If you have continuing concerns about HIV, return to (or telephone) the Sexual Health Centre where you were evaluated and tested. The Australia SHCs collectively are probably the world's best STD/HIV clinic system. If you continue to be unable to get beyond your fears despite all the reassurance you have had, it may indicate a need for professional mental health care. It isn't normal to have such difficulty accepting such strong evidence that you are not infected.
Thanks Doctor Handsfield for your feedback. I read a similar response by you to someone else on this forum which you mentioned "Impossible" for HIV after 3 and 5 months. Would this relate to me as well? By the way I am from Australia and I appricate this forum. Could you please also suggest any ways of getting over my worry that have worked with others on this forum? Thank you
Welcome to the HIV forum. Thanks for reading other threads with similar questions before asking your own.
First, from your reading you should understand you had a very low risk exposure. The odds any particular sex worker (in the US) has HIV is under 1 in 1,000, and the chance of transmission from a single episode of vaginal sex -- if she were infected -- is no higher than 1 in 1,000. Those two factors together mean your risk of catching HIV was on the order of 1 in a million.
All the discussions about seroconversion time -- i.e. the interval to a reliably negative test -- are pertinent only to the antibody tests. The duo test is for antibody and for p24 antigen, a marker for HIV itself. For that test, the window period is never longer than 6 weeks. In other words, the STD clinic was correct in recommending a single test at 6 weeks: your first negative result proved without a doubt you did not catch HIV. All other tests since then were superfluous.
We have also said many times -- you probably saw some of the discussions -- that symptoms are almost never useful in judging whether or not someone has a new HIV infection. It isn't possible to have have onset of ARS symptoms at 5 months, but even if it were, the test results prove you don't have ARS. To your specific questions:
1) No, not possible.
2) No chance.
3) No distant online expert can guarantee someone isn't infected. But if I were in your situation, knowing what I know, I would never have stopped having unprotected sex with my wife -- and even if I had given in to non-rational fears and used condoms to start, I certainly would have stopped that after the negative test at 6 weeks.
4) No further testing is necessary.
5) No, I have never heard of this happening.
You don't have HIV -- trust me. It's time to move on. Good luck-- HHH, MD