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Low CD8 count and HIV risk
Dear Doctor,
I'm a 28 y/o straight European male living in the UK.
I don't think I'm at risk of HIV, however I have a couple of questions about it.
I have been unwell for two months and doctors are very close to confirm a diagnosis of neuroborellosis (Lyme disease), however some results are still pending.
One of the lyme-related result I had was a LOW absolute count of CD8-CD57+ Lymphs: 59 (range 60 - 360, where healthy patients usually have a value above 200). This result is very consistent with Lyme, however I read somewhere it can also be a sign of HIV. Then I also read somewhere else that a new study proved this to be unrelated to hiv and this count only being lowered by chronic Lyme.
Well, I don't want to get tested for HIV since an active Lyme infection can easily cause false positives results. So my first question is if CD8-CD57+ Lymphs count at 59 can be a HIV indicator or this is unrelated. I had my last hiv duo test 12 months ago and it was negative.
Also one year ago I had my last 'potential' low-risk exposure to HIV and I am now wondering if this had any kind of real risk involved: my ex-partner (female, hiv neg. -tested with me a few days before this episode) and I hired a prostitute (female) to try a new sex experience.
I had protected penetrative sex with both of them and I received protected oral by the prostitute and unprotected oral my ex-partner. However they performed unprotected oral sex to each other several times during the session.
My ex-partner probably gave me unprotected oral a few times right after performing unprotected oral on the prostitute. I also wore a condom immediately after that act (without washing my penis) to continue with penetrative sex.
Could this activity carry any risk of hiv trasmission? After that event I didn't have any acute-viral-like symptoms (flu, etc) and I didn't have any other possible exposure to date.
Should I get tested anyway although the risk of false positive due to Lyme?
Many thanks,
Rob
I'm a 28 y/o straight European male living in the UK.
I don't think I'm at risk of HIV, however I have a couple of questions about it.
I have been unwell for two months and doctors are very close to confirm a diagnosis of neuroborellosis (Lyme disease), however some results are still pending.
One of the lyme-related result I had was a LOW absolute count of CD8-CD57+ Lymphs: 59 (range 60 - 360, where healthy patients usually have a value above 200). This result is very consistent with Lyme, however I read somewhere it can also be a sign of HIV. Then I also read somewhere else that a new study proved this to be unrelated to hiv and this count only being lowered by chronic Lyme.
Well, I don't want to get tested for HIV since an active Lyme infection can easily cause false positives results. So my first question is if CD8-CD57+ Lymphs count at 59 can be a HIV indicator or this is unrelated. I had my last hiv duo test 12 months ago and it was negative.
Also one year ago I had my last 'potential' low-risk exposure to HIV and I am now wondering if this had any kind of real risk involved: my ex-partner (female, hiv neg. -tested with me a few days before this episode) and I hired a prostitute (female) to try a new sex experience.
I had protected penetrative sex with both of them and I received protected oral by the prostitute and unprotected oral my ex-partner. However they performed unprotected oral sex to each other several times during the session.
My ex-partner probably gave me unprotected oral a few times right after performing unprotected oral on the prostitute. I also wore a condom immediately after that act (without washing my penis) to continue with penetrative sex.
Could this activity carry any risk of hiv trasmission? After that event I didn't have any acute-viral-like symptoms (flu, etc) and I didn't have any other possible exposure to date.
Should I get tested anyway although the risk of false positive due to Lyme?
Many thanks,
Rob
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
No surprise, but congratulations!
Dear Doctor, today I had a DUO, which came back negative. Thank you for your advise of getting tested. Regards
Thank you Doctor. I will get tested and let you know the result.
Regards
Regards
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum.
Almost certainly you do not have HIV. (Based on the information provided, I'm also skeptical about the Lyme diagnosis, but I won't go there; it's off topic for this forum.) All kinds of minor viral infections, nutrition issue, allergies, and other conditions can affect CD4 and CD8 lymphocye counts; the values even can vary naturally over the course of the normal day.
But if you remain concerned, I would advise you to have an HIV test. The chance of a false positive result is very, very low, and even then is a problem only with the rapid tests, not the lab-based standard HIV antibody tests. Fear of such a result is not a valid reason to avoid testing; the far more likely outcome of testing would be a negative result that would go a long way in resolving your fear of having HIV. (And as I said, I'm not at all convinced you have Lyme disease anyway.)
Let me know the HIV test result if you decide to go ahead with it. But without that result, there's nothing more I'll be able to say or advise. Stay mellow in the meantime; it is exceedingly unlikely you have HIV.
Regards-- HHH, MD
Almost certainly you do not have HIV. (Based on the information provided, I'm also skeptical about the Lyme diagnosis, but I won't go there; it's off topic for this forum.) All kinds of minor viral infections, nutrition issue, allergies, and other conditions can affect CD4 and CD8 lymphocye counts; the values even can vary naturally over the course of the normal day.
But if you remain concerned, I would advise you to have an HIV test. The chance of a false positive result is very, very low, and even then is a problem only with the rapid tests, not the lab-based standard HIV antibody tests. Fear of such a result is not a valid reason to avoid testing; the far more likely outcome of testing would be a negative result that would go a long way in resolving your fear of having HIV. (And as I said, I'm not at all convinced you have Lyme disease anyway.)
Let me know the HIV test result if you decide to go ahead with it. But without that result, there's nothing more I'll be able to say or advise. Stay mellow in the meantime; it is exceedingly unlikely you have HIV.
Regards-- HHH, MD
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