Possible HIV exposure--Please help!!!

[Scared2012]

I'm a 23 year old gay male. I had unprotected oral sex on January 12th. I gave oral sex for about 3 minutes (he did not ejaculate or show signs of pre-ejaculation (though, I'm not completely certain about the pre-ejaculate). I also have an open cavity (non-bleeding) from when a temporary cap came off during the summer. On February 14th, I was informed by the guy that he was HIV positive (which was confirmed by Western Blot). I'm really, really scared. I had a rapid blood test the next day, February 15th and it came back negative. Around the first week of February, I had what I thought was mono, but I didn't have a sore throat. I also had a really bad cough and fatigue. I'm not sure whether it was acute HIV infection that I was experiencing or just a cold or temporary flu, which I could have gotten from any number of sick people that I was around.

In short, here are my questions:

1, It's been 35 days since the HIV exposure and I tested negative--could you give me my chances of still testing positive?

2, Should I be more concerned because I believe I had mono (the symptoms including the bad cough have since faded)?

3, What is the chance that I contracted HIV from unprotected oral sex in which my partner did not ejaculate?

I'm extremely scared, and I know you can't provide a definitive answer until I get tested again but I would like to know my chances from here? I'm looking for a rough statistical and/or percentage guess based on your medical expertise. (such as--you have this in so and so chances)

Thanks,
Scared.

I apologize if this question has been repeated--I'm still learning my way around this website.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Thanks for the clarification and you are right, I did get the dates crossed.  At this time, particularly of you are now nearly two weeks after your mono-like symptoms, an HIV test would be a good idea.  As I said above, about 90% of tests that are going to be positive will be at this time and in your case, perhaps even more.  Having said that, it is still more likely that you acquired some other viral illness than HIV - I hope that proves to be the case.  EWH

[Scared2012]

I apologize for posting on the wrong site. I've never used this site before and it was quite confusing to navigate at first. However, I do believe you may have misinterpreted my post.  

I'm assuming you sped read through the first paragraph or just went straight to the questions.

To clarify, I didn't know that my partner was HIV positive until February 14th (when he called me), and I had unprotected oral sex with him on the 12th of January.

I developed what I believe were mono-like symptoms in my FIRST week of February.

I was afraid that these symptoms might have been the result of primary HIV infection, but I have no idea because I haven't been tested for mono and the symptoms have since faded. I have an appointment with my primary care physician this Friday.

Again, I will always practice safe oral sex now, and your first answer was helpful. I apologize for the initial confusion. I've still haven't mastered the dynamics of forum discussions.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Your question is on the wrong site.  I will provide you with the best answer I can but further questions about HIV must be asked on the HIV Prevention site.  This site is for questions on STD risk and management questions.  Any follow-ups must be on the other site and, unfortunately will require another charge.


For starters, according to your post, you had mono two weeks before the exposure to an infected partner that you report.  Unless you have had other high risk exposures, that is not something to worry about.  IF you have had other high risk exposures, I urge you to start practicing safe sex.  This is a numbers game- the more chances you take, the more likely you are to get infected.  Don't push your luck, please!


As for your questions:

1.  At five weeks over 90% of tests that are going to become positive will be so odds are in your favor.  In addition, while I do not recommend unprotected oral sex with partners of unknown infection status (or, obviously, with partners who are known to have HIV), HIV is virtually never tranmitted by oral sex.  (Again, that is no reason to push your luck).
2.   See above.  I presume you had a negative mono test.  Even if you did not, the fact that you have the negative HIV test means there is little reason for concern.
3.   See above, virtually zero.

Hope these answers are helpful. And hope that you will now get serious about safe sex.  EWH