HIV for Massage Worker Incident - PLEASE HELP!

[guitardood70]

I made a terrible mistake on 2/20 with an asian massage worker. we had intercourse with saran wrap b/c neither of us had a condom--my penis DID remain covered the whole time. I immediately went into an extreme state of panic after exposure. A few hours after the encounter my testicles were red and painful (dull, achy pain), they went down with IB profen, but now I am obsessively checking my genital area for herpes signs or signs of anything out of the ordinary.

5 days after the encounter I started feeling bad. I have night sweats (I have these before exposure, though), muscle weakness, fatigue/weakness, chills, cough, stuffy/runny nose, sore throat, headache, voice is deeper from cold, etc.. I may have a cold, but idk, I got a flu shot a few months ago so idk why I am experiencing this. I also met a lot of new people 2 days ago and shook a lot of hands from people that said they were just getting over being sick. This seems to much to be a common cold.  

I know the chances she had HIV are low, and the chances I would've contacted it are even lower, but I cannot help but freak out. Could this be HIV?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

correct. EWH

[guitardood70]

And 100% after 8 weeks?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

At 4-6 weeks a standard HIVantibody test would be expected to detect 90% (at 4 weeks) to 95% (at 6 weeks) of recent HIV infections.  EWH

[guitardood70]

Thank you, Doctor! I just had an appointment with my primary care doctor and he said he thinks I have a bad cold or some kind of viral or bacterial infection. He examined me thoroughly, and he doesn't think its HIV either. I am also known to have a ton of anxiety and that is probably a driving factor as well.

Last question--how accurate is a standard HIV test after 4-6 weeks?  Will doing another panel at 4-6 weeks show everything I may have been exposed to besides HIV (Herpes, Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, Syphilis, etc..)

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to our Forum.  I will try to help, providing both some reassurance and some caution.  As you point out, it is unlikely that your partner had HIV and even if she did, even most unprotected exposures to infected partners do not lead to infection.  I cannot comment on how protective use of Saran wrap rather than a condom might be as there are no data on this topic.  While I am sure that the saran wrap is better than nothing I cannot say how much.

As for your current symptoms, they began rather early to be due to recently acquired HIV and are far, far more likely to be due to some other, non-STI community acquired virus than HIV.  That you got a flu shot does not mean that you have not gotten the flu and in fact we have seen many patients who got the flu despite their flu shots. We have presumed that their shots make their flu less severe than it might have been otherwise but it can still happen.

My advice is t not worry too much.  If your symptoms are what is worrying you, then a 4th generation test at this time would be helpful- if your symptom were due to HIV, then your test would be positive.  On the other hand, for a definitive result, a4th generation test at 4 weeks or a standard HIV antibody test at 8 weeks will be conclusive.

Do your best to relax. Your chances of having HIV are small. EWH