How soon would you know the symptoms?. Is hiv half antibody test result accurate after 4 weeks of sex? I had protected sex with an escort 6 weeks before and I don't know her hiv status. I did use the condom correctly but the second time my condom was a little folded at the tip and I pulled out thinking it was broken. They were good condoms. Ever since I had sex with her I had pimples near my genitals(near pubic hair on upper right side). I ran to a doctor and he ordered HSV12 and RPR tests and they all came out negative.Then I consulted another family medicine doctor and he said it could be hsv2 or follucilitis and gave tablet (Azythromycin & prednisone) and they went down. A week later rashes started appearing and they disappear within minutes and that got better. After that I had tingling sensations in my anus near genitals and foot mainly and that got better. Currently I experience symptoms like little red bumps and some wounds that look like bug bites. Every now and then I feel like my lymph nodes are swollen in my neck but they are not really. At 4 weeks I requested doctor to order HIV 1/2 anti body test and RPR Syphilis test and they came out negative. I then had itch on my neck(group of small pimples) and two pimples(looks like ant bites) started growing on my cheek but this time they are not with pus but moderately itched. With all this I had some tension under neck and felt swollen lymph nodes and went to a dermatologist who tested my dead skin where I had an itch and said it is nothing like chlamydia gonorreah or herpes. I now have a check up in 2 more weeks and then I will have an another hiv test done(8 weeks) done. I never had high fever or sore throat or sever chills. Throat feels like lumps but not really. I don't do drugs. Any suggestions on future hiv tests and what kind of test is reliable at that stage? Can I trust my current hiv test results?
2015-04-03 11:47:32
Your worries are over (or should be). The most important information you provide is your negative HIV test result. Well over 90% of infected persons have positive antibody tests by 4 weeks and all people with HIV symptoms have positive tests by that time. And if your test was a duo test (for both HIV antibody and p24 antigen) the negative result is 100% reliable with no need for further testing. Symptoms are the least reliable of all ways to judge whether or not someone has HIV. Even the most typical symptoms of a new HIV infection are almost always due to other common mostly minor medical conditions -- and in any case your symptoms aren't typical for HIV. The same is true for exposure history: no matter how high the risk of HIV may have been at the time of exposure test results always overrule. So even if you knew your partner had HIV and even if the sex had been unprotected I would reassure you there is virtually no chance you were infected. And in fact it is statistically unlikely a partner like yours was infected and the sex was condom-protected as well. In other words testing always overrules exposure history and symptoms and you can be virtually 100% confident you don't have HIV. If your previous test was a stand-alone antibody test and not a duo then you can have another at 6-8 weeks to make the result definitive. Contrary to popular belief it really isn't necessary to wait 3 months -- see the thread below for more discussion on this point.
2015-04-03 11:48:12
