Aa
anxious wreck
Dear Doc,
6.5 weeks ago I was back home in Sweden where I had a drunken one night stand with a local girl whom I know of and think that she can be a bit promiscuous. The vaginal “act” lasted well less than a minute as I was too drunk to “perform” but we did have oral sex both ways.
Because of the anxiety I had to get tested early on. I was DUO tested at 18, 25 and 36 days. The first two came back negative straightaway but the 36 day test was reactive to the Elisa but the confirmatory test, thank God, was negative (not indeterminable). Although the young doctor assured me that, given the 3 negative tests and the only 1 exposure which was not necessarily high-risk, there is literally less than 0.1% chance of me being HIV positive, it still, however, makes me nervous as the initial result changed within a space of 11 days. Could this be because I had a typhoid jab in between of these 2 latter test dates? I should mention that this is not the first time when this is happening as 4 years ago I was tested twice (9 and 12 weeks post-exposure) and both times the first test came back reactive and the confirmatory was in both cases negative. The doctor then told me that I just have some protein in my blood which causes the positive reaction to the test. But if this is the case, then how come the first 2 tests came back negative in the first place?
The only symptom has been a sore throat with some white coating on my tonsillitis, for which I got a 7-day course of antibiotics and which did not clear even after I had finished the week’s treatment. Additionally the lymph nodes under my jaw are swollen on-off and causing pain intermittently and the pain sometimes radiates to my ears, too.
Do you think I was in the process of sero-converting when the 36 day test was taken?
The last time I had sexual contact was over 7 months ago after which I had been tested 3 months after the exposure which was negative
Any comments would be most appreciated! Thanks!!
6.5 weeks ago I was back home in Sweden where I had a drunken one night stand with a local girl whom I know of and think that she can be a bit promiscuous. The vaginal “act” lasted well less than a minute as I was too drunk to “perform” but we did have oral sex both ways.
Because of the anxiety I had to get tested early on. I was DUO tested at 18, 25 and 36 days. The first two came back negative straightaway but the 36 day test was reactive to the Elisa but the confirmatory test, thank God, was negative (not indeterminable). Although the young doctor assured me that, given the 3 negative tests and the only 1 exposure which was not necessarily high-risk, there is literally less than 0.1% chance of me being HIV positive, it still, however, makes me nervous as the initial result changed within a space of 11 days. Could this be because I had a typhoid jab in between of these 2 latter test dates? I should mention that this is not the first time when this is happening as 4 years ago I was tested twice (9 and 12 weeks post-exposure) and both times the first test came back reactive and the confirmatory was in both cases negative. The doctor then told me that I just have some protein in my blood which causes the positive reaction to the test. But if this is the case, then how come the first 2 tests came back negative in the first place?
The only symptom has been a sore throat with some white coating on my tonsillitis, for which I got a 7-day course of antibiotics and which did not clear even after I had finished the week’s treatment. Additionally the lymph nodes under my jaw are swollen on-off and causing pain intermittently and the pain sometimes radiates to my ears, too.
Do you think I was in the process of sero-converting when the 36 day test was taken?
The last time I had sexual contact was over 7 months ago after which I had been tested 3 months after the exposure which was negative
Any comments would be most appreciated! Thanks!!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum. Bottom line: You do not have HIV. All is well.
Your exposure was low risk; my understanding is that heterosexually transmitted HIV remains rare in Sweden (and throughout Scandinavia) except in certain population groups; recent African immigrants are an obvious example. No matter how many partners she has had, it is unlikely your partner had HIV.
Your symptoms don't sound typical for HIV -- just a cold or other minor respiratory virus. Almost everyone with new HIV has a substantial fever; and 70% have sore throat, and skin rash, and fever (i.e. all three). Coated tongue goes along with hundreds of medical conditions, including the common cold.
But most important, HIV test results always overrule symptoms and exposure history, as long as enough time has passed since exposure. For the duo test, that time is 4 weeks. Your negative result at 25 days was almost 100% reliable, and the 36 day result proves it. Even if your exposure were truly high risk and even if your symptoms were typical, you can rely on the test results.
In contrast to the brief message you had on the community forum, you don't need to wait 3 months for definitive testing. That advice applies to the antibody-only tests, not the duo test (and even for antibody-only 6-8 weeks generally is sufficient).
So all is well. You don't have HIV and do not need any more testing. If you have a regular sex partner, you can continue unprotected sex with that person without fear of transmitting HIV.
I hope this helps. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
Your exposure was low risk; my understanding is that heterosexually transmitted HIV remains rare in Sweden (and throughout Scandinavia) except in certain population groups; recent African immigrants are an obvious example. No matter how many partners she has had, it is unlikely your partner had HIV.
Your symptoms don't sound typical for HIV -- just a cold or other minor respiratory virus. Almost everyone with new HIV has a substantial fever; and 70% have sore throat, and skin rash, and fever (i.e. all three). Coated tongue goes along with hundreds of medical conditions, including the common cold.
But most important, HIV test results always overrule symptoms and exposure history, as long as enough time has passed since exposure. For the duo test, that time is 4 weeks. Your negative result at 25 days was almost 100% reliable, and the 36 day result proves it. Even if your exposure were truly high risk and even if your symptoms were typical, you can rely on the test results.
In contrast to the brief message you had on the community forum, you don't need to wait 3 months for definitive testing. That advice applies to the antibody-only tests, not the duo test (and even for antibody-only 6-8 weeks generally is sufficient).
So all is well. You don't have HIV and do not need any more testing. If you have a regular sex partner, you can continue unprotected sex with that person without fear of transmitting HIV.
I hope this helps. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
Thank you very much for the advice! A real relief that is!
All the best wishes!
All the best wishes!
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