hiv and plasma donation

[blp5217]

I know I've added a question like this in the past, but i really just wanted an experts opinion on this so i can truly lay this to rest, and haven't really had the kindest of responses on the free support community...as you may see from my posts, i had unprotected sex august 2011 with a foreign girl (im a circumcised guy, no drug use, same for her). experienced no ars symptoms or whatnot, amonths after this is started to donate plasma (around october), which i donated pretty regularly at this time (1-2 times weekly). i understand they check for hiv at every donation, and i had done this without worry for some time. august of 2012 was the last time i have had sex in between.

jump forward to October of 2012, had an hiv test (antibody test I'm pretty sure) which would have been more than a year after the fact. all tests had come back negative, both from plasma donations and from my oct test. my question is as follows 1) i know that they test plasma donations for hiv, however would being a repeat donor for so long delayed seroconversion? 2) is there any chance that after so long, i have hiv? 3) would any future partners of mine be at risk for this, I worry because one now has cold symptoms and lastly 4) can one be negative and still carry this virus? i really hope you can answer these, i'm so sorry i ask this multiple times. thanks in advance

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Thanks for the clarification.  You are right, chlamydia is far, far more common than HIV.  Please don't worry. EWH

[blp5217]

Okay, that's fair, thank you. I think my concern came from this whole incident because the foreign girl had given me chlamydia, which i understand is more common and more likely to transmit hiv. i am generally the type to over-analyze everything, and this ordeal has clearly not helped that aspect of me.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

The illness is a coincidence and not HIV.  You or your partner may have transmitted whatever is causing your illnesses to one another but be confident that it is not HIV.  EWH

[blp5217]

thank you doctor. I will try to put this out of my mind, I am glad your answer was detailed. i cannot tell you how grateful i am for this, and i do understand that i worry far too much about things like this. i know the cold symptoms question could have been more detailed, my partner now (also female, non drug user) has swollen glands and achy feeling....i read far too much on the internet and i realize this could've been something? maybe? but it's obviously not from me, and is probably just a coincidence?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to this Forum.  The information you received on the HIV Community site was on target and correct.  If you had HIV, it would be known at this time.  Unless your partner was an IV drug user, the exposures you describe mathematically have a less than 1 in a million chance of having giving you HIV.  Your repeated tests now prove that you are not infected.  To continue to worry is paranoid thinking.

To address your specific questions:
1) i know that they test plasma donations for hiv, however would being a repeat donor for so long delayed seroconversion?
No, the timing of plasma donation is set so that it will not adversely impact the donor's health.  Your immune function would be preserved and the time to test positivity, had you been infected, would not be delayed with repeat plasma donations.

2) is there any chance that after so long, i have hiv?
No.

3) would any future partners of mine be at risk for this, I worry because one now has cold symptoms and lastly
"Cold symptoms are non-specific and in your case are due to something other than HIV.

4) can one be negative and still carry this virus?
Not with the tests you have.  Donated plasma is typically tested not only for antibodies to the virus but with PCR tests as well, thus if you had HIV, it would be detected.

You are clearly worrying far too much about this.  Please try to stop worrying. If you cannot, I suspect this means you would benefit from professional counseling on the matter. I say this out of concern for your health, nothing more.  EWH