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HIV DUO test at 5 weeks negative - conclusive?
Dear doctors,
I was introduced to a girl by my friend at his party and we hit it off (probably because of the alcohol). We ended up heading back to her place and we proceeded to have sex. I didn't have a condom with me and wanted to go to a convenient store to get some. But she said it is fine. I asked her if it was safe and she said yes, so we had unprotected vaginal sex twice. The intercourses lasted about 10mins each and I did not ejaculate inside her both times. This all happened in Japan and she is Japanese. I was there on a business trip and left after a week. I did not see her again even though we exchanged a few SMS' during my last week there.
After 4 weeks, my friend, who introduced me to her at the party, found out that she is a stripper and works at a strip club in the red light district of Tokyo. I have heard that there is a lot of prostitution that goes on at those strip clubs and I am afraid that she is also a CSW. I emailed her again and try to find out about her HIV status but she never answered.
I decided to get tested at a sexual health clinic in Hong Kong as this is where I am currently based at. I took the HIV DUO test at exactly 5 weeks post-exposure and the result was negative. The doctor at the clinic told me that the HIV DUO test is conclusive after 28 days and I can treat my negative result as conclusive. However, I also took tests for other STDs and everything came back negative except for HSV2, being positive. I have never had any symptoms and my doctor suggested that I could have obtained it from a past exposure prior to that particular exposure in Tokyo. I know I have done something VERY stupid and irresponsible as I have put myself at a great risk of exposing myself to HIV as well as other STDs, and on top of that, might have infected that girl with HSV2.
I have read through many online sources that herpes can increase the rate of transmission of HIV. Also, some people can have late seroconversion and will not produce enough antibodies to be detected until a few months after exposure. For the last month, I had the cold twice, and had canker sores and blood blister in my mouth for the last 2 weeks. I read that oral diseases and colds are symptoms that could occur from time to time with people who are infected with HIV. I am not sure what the cause of my colds is, but I am getting a lot of conflicting information about the conclusiveness of the HIV DUO test. Some sources claim that the test is 99.8% conclusive at 28 days and other sources are stating that a 3-month test post-exposure is needed to confirm the negative result. So my question is: should I take my post 5-week negative result as conclusive and move on with my life or should I take another DUO test?
Thank you in advance for your advice!
I was introduced to a girl by my friend at his party and we hit it off (probably because of the alcohol). We ended up heading back to her place and we proceeded to have sex. I didn't have a condom with me and wanted to go to a convenient store to get some. But she said it is fine. I asked her if it was safe and she said yes, so we had unprotected vaginal sex twice. The intercourses lasted about 10mins each and I did not ejaculate inside her both times. This all happened in Japan and she is Japanese. I was there on a business trip and left after a week. I did not see her again even though we exchanged a few SMS' during my last week there.
After 4 weeks, my friend, who introduced me to her at the party, found out that she is a stripper and works at a strip club in the red light district of Tokyo. I have heard that there is a lot of prostitution that goes on at those strip clubs and I am afraid that she is also a CSW. I emailed her again and try to find out about her HIV status but she never answered.
I decided to get tested at a sexual health clinic in Hong Kong as this is where I am currently based at. I took the HIV DUO test at exactly 5 weeks post-exposure and the result was negative. The doctor at the clinic told me that the HIV DUO test is conclusive after 28 days and I can treat my negative result as conclusive. However, I also took tests for other STDs and everything came back negative except for HSV2, being positive. I have never had any symptoms and my doctor suggested that I could have obtained it from a past exposure prior to that particular exposure in Tokyo. I know I have done something VERY stupid and irresponsible as I have put myself at a great risk of exposing myself to HIV as well as other STDs, and on top of that, might have infected that girl with HSV2.
I have read through many online sources that herpes can increase the rate of transmission of HIV. Also, some people can have late seroconversion and will not produce enough antibodies to be detected until a few months after exposure. For the last month, I had the cold twice, and had canker sores and blood blister in my mouth for the last 2 weeks. I read that oral diseases and colds are symptoms that could occur from time to time with people who are infected with HIV. I am not sure what the cause of my colds is, but I am getting a lot of conflicting information about the conclusiveness of the HIV DUO test. Some sources claim that the test is 99.8% conclusive at 28 days and other sources are stating that a 3-month test post-exposure is needed to confirm the negative result. So my question is: should I take my post 5-week negative result as conclusive and move on with my life or should I take another DUO test?
Thank you in advance for your advice!
Buddy Just to ease ur pressure..I hope it helps.This article is by the best MEDHELP doc Dr HHH.
Welcome to the forum.
You had a low risk exposure, since most CSWs even in Asian countries with vibrant sex industries (e.g., Thailand) do not have HIV; oral sex carries little or no risk; and even unprotected vaginal sex carries an average transmission risk of only 1 in 2,000. But the level of risk is irrelevant anyway; your test results show you weren't infected.
From all you say, your preliminary research came up with entirely accurate information; I agree with the information you learned from the MedHelp HIV community forum (Teak) and Bob Frascino at thebody.com. To your specific questions:
1,3) Those figures are about right, and there is no discrepancy. Don't get hung up on the difference between 99.89% versus 99.99%. (On this forum we just say both results are around 99.9% accurate by 4 and 12 weeks.) The available data aren't that precise aren't nearly precise enough to judge a difference of only 0.1%. You should view both the negative duo test at 4 weeks and a negative antibody-nly test at 3 months as proof against a new HIV infection.
2) Testing at 7-8 weeks will make no difference. You don't need any further testing.
Bottom line: You didn't catch HIV and don't need any further testing, at least not from a medical/risk perspective. But feel free to have another test for psychological support, if the repeated reassurance -- from Teak, Dr. Bob, and now me -- doesn't settle it for you.
Welcome to the forum.
You had a low risk exposure, since most CSWs even in Asian countries with vibrant sex industries (e.g., Thailand) do not have HIV; oral sex carries little or no risk; and even unprotected vaginal sex carries an average transmission risk of only 1 in 2,000. But the level of risk is irrelevant anyway; your test results show you weren't infected.
From all you say, your preliminary research came up with entirely accurate information; I agree with the information you learned from the MedHelp HIV community forum (Teak) and Bob Frascino at thebody.com. To your specific questions:
1,3) Those figures are about right, and there is no discrepancy. Don't get hung up on the difference between 99.89% versus 99.99%. (On this forum we just say both results are around 99.9% accurate by 4 and 12 weeks.) The available data aren't that precise aren't nearly precise enough to judge a difference of only 0.1%. You should view both the negative duo test at 4 weeks and a negative antibody-nly test at 3 months as proof against a new HIV infection.
2) Testing at 7-8 weeks will make no difference. You don't need any further testing.
Bottom line: You didn't catch HIV and don't need any further testing, at least not from a medical/risk perspective. But feel free to have another test for psychological support, if the repeated reassurance -- from Teak, Dr. Bob, and now me -- doesn't settle it for you.
Thank you for your advice, getitright77!
I understand that I should get an antibody test to make sure I am conclusively negative. I will do so and post my results here.
Just one more question, what do you think the odds that my antibody test will be positive even though my duo test was negative at 5 weeks?
I understand that I should get an antibody test to make sure I am conclusively negative. I will do so and post my results here.
Just one more question, what do you think the odds that my antibody test will be positive even though my duo test was negative at 5 weeks?
You had a risk and require hiv testing along with other STD testing.NO hiv test is 100% conclusive until 3 months post-exposure and thats an hiv fact.Sure the DUO is good at 4 weeks but it needs to be followed up with an antibody test at 3 months if you want total peace of mind that your 100% hiv free.All the best.
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