Aa
Should I be worried
Hi,
Last august, I went to a trip in Vegas. The last night of our stay, me and my best friend got drunk, and went to the strippers. There, I went in the VIP area with an asian stripper, and I think we had sex at this place ( We were very drunk, and I had a big black, not remembering nothing from when I entered the VIP room ). The reason why I think we had sex is that I had 400$ in my wallet, and nothing left the next morning. If I had sex, I also don't remember if I had a condom (logical hehe). That night was august 24th.
Back in Montreal, Canada, I took an appointment to a HIV specialized clinic, and went to pass the test on october 20, exactly 8 weeks after the incident. The test I passed was the Medmira one, and this test is FDA approved. The doctor I saw to pass the test told me that 8 weeks is OK for the window period, put everywhere I go to look infos on the Internet, and even AIDS phone help line, they always say 3 months, so I'm very anxious about the reliability of the results the test gave me. Are rapid test reliable after 8 weeks? Anyway's, I got tested HIV negative.
Also, the Medmira test only looks for HIV-1, should I be worried about an HIV-2 infection?
I was convinced of my negative serology until last monday, where I just found 2 blue spots on my skin ( I'm french and I don't know the good word in English, I'm talking about the blue spot we get when we got hit on the arm for example). Since I saw these spots, I can't sleep, and I'm only thinking about that..... Are these blue spots can appear 4 months after an HIV infection, or it's only in the late stage of AIDS? I didn't got injured, that's why I'm worried about these spots.....
Should I passed a second HIV test just to be sure of my serology?
Thank You Doctor
Treas
Last august, I went to a trip in Vegas. The last night of our stay, me and my best friend got drunk, and went to the strippers. There, I went in the VIP area with an asian stripper, and I think we had sex at this place ( We were very drunk, and I had a big black, not remembering nothing from when I entered the VIP room ). The reason why I think we had sex is that I had 400$ in my wallet, and nothing left the next morning. If I had sex, I also don't remember if I had a condom (logical hehe). That night was august 24th.
Back in Montreal, Canada, I took an appointment to a HIV specialized clinic, and went to pass the test on october 20, exactly 8 weeks after the incident. The test I passed was the Medmira one, and this test is FDA approved. The doctor I saw to pass the test told me that 8 weeks is OK for the window period, put everywhere I go to look infos on the Internet, and even AIDS phone help line, they always say 3 months, so I'm very anxious about the reliability of the results the test gave me. Are rapid test reliable after 8 weeks? Anyway's, I got tested HIV negative.
Also, the Medmira test only looks for HIV-1, should I be worried about an HIV-2 infection?
I was convinced of my negative serology until last monday, where I just found 2 blue spots on my skin ( I'm french and I don't know the good word in English, I'm talking about the blue spot we get when we got hit on the arm for example). Since I saw these spots, I can't sleep, and I'm only thinking about that..... Are these blue spots can appear 4 months after an HIV infection, or it's only in the late stage of AIDS? I didn't got injured, that's why I'm worried about these spots.....
Should I passed a second HIV test just to be sure of my serology?
Thank You Doctor
Treas
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Differences in advice about HIV testing intervals have been discussed innumerable times on this forum. Mostly it comes down to some agencies' legal departments forcing hyper-conservative viewpoints. Use the search link and enter "seroconversion" or "time to positive HIV test". You will find more discussions than you can read in a week.
With modern HIV test, it almost never takes 3 months for a positive result.
With modern HIV test, it almost never takes 3 months for a positive result.
Thank you for your answer Dr.Handsfield
I just have one more question for you!
Why some people require a 3 months post-exposition delay to be detected as positive in HIV testing? Is it because of an immunodeficiency problem before the exposition, making them unable to produce enough antibodies and therefore non positive in the screening-test?
Is the probability to be in the rare case of 3 months is high, or were talking about an small minority?
Thank You
Treas
I just have one more question for you!
Why some people require a 3 months post-exposition delay to be detected as positive in HIV testing? Is it because of an immunodeficiency problem before the exposition, making them unable to produce enough antibodies and therefore non positive in the screening-test?
Is the probability to be in the rare case of 3 months is high, or were talking about an small minority?
Thank You
Treas
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum.
One of the points we have made again and again and again is that as long as HIV antibody testing is done sufficient time after exposure -- generally 6-8 weeks, rarely up to 3 months -- the test results ALWAYS trump symptoms and exposure history. And negative rapid tests are just as reliable as lab based tests. (Not so for positive rapid tests, because false positive results are fairly common.)
Therefore you were exactly right to be "convinced of [your] negative serology", regardless of whatever symptoms you had. Your test results prove that the "blue spots", whatever they are, cannot be due to HIV acquried during the events in Las Vegas.
So your "blue spots" don't matter. And "blue spots" don't hint at HIV anyway. You're probably worred about Kaposi sarcoma, but KS occurs in advanced AIDS, not in the first few months after catching HIV. And your sexual exposure wasn't particularly high risk, since HIV is rare in Las Vegas sex workers.
HIV-2 is vanishingly rare in the US, with only ~100 cases in the entire country last I heard -- with most or all of those in people who emigrated from other parts of the world.
Bruise like spots usually are just that -- bruises. Usually they don't mean anything. But if there are lots of them, or if it keeps happening, definitely see a health care provider. But don't worry about HIV/AIDS as the cause.
Best wishes-- HHH, MD
One of the points we have made again and again and again is that as long as HIV antibody testing is done sufficient time after exposure -- generally 6-8 weeks, rarely up to 3 months -- the test results ALWAYS trump symptoms and exposure history. And negative rapid tests are just as reliable as lab based tests. (Not so for positive rapid tests, because false positive results are fairly common.)
Therefore you were exactly right to be "convinced of [your] negative serology", regardless of whatever symptoms you had. Your test results prove that the "blue spots", whatever they are, cannot be due to HIV acquried during the events in Las Vegas.
So your "blue spots" don't matter. And "blue spots" don't hint at HIV anyway. You're probably worred about Kaposi sarcoma, but KS occurs in advanced AIDS, not in the first few months after catching HIV. And your sexual exposure wasn't particularly high risk, since HIV is rare in Las Vegas sex workers.
HIV-2 is vanishingly rare in the US, with only ~100 cases in the entire country last I heard -- with most or all of those in people who emigrated from other parts of the world.
Bruise like spots usually are just that -- bruises. Usually they don't mean anything. But if there are lots of them, or if it keeps happening, definitely see a health care provider. But don't worry about HIV/AIDS as the cause.
Best wishes-- HHH, MD
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