Q and A

Question

Should I wait 17 days to test or pay privately?

Hi

I fell so lost. I put myself in a very risky situation. I have been to my GP and they suggested if i was this nervous they would order me a multiplex test. I searched online and called the lab where they do the testing. They said the test is 99% accurate after 10 days however I have to wait 7 days from the day I send the sample back, so that would be thursday they get it and then if it takes 5 days to do – 11th august then 1-2 days for post? bringing my exposure to exactly 3 weeks, on that day?

Should i just test next monday with a duo for free – at 17 days would that give me a good indication or should i wait? or go for that test please any advice is greatly appreciated – this test is also costing me 96.00 which i don't mind but its the time frame.

Thanks

Answer

The vast majority of people who test for HIV have been at very low risk of catching HIV.

Over 99% of tests each year in the UK produce HIV negative results.

While it sounds like you are worrying a lot about this now, HIV is a very difficult virus to catch sexually, especially if you do not know your partner was even HIV-positive. Even then the risk is estimated as perhaps 1 in 300 for anal sex any 1 in 1000 for vaginal sex. These are only estimated figures just to give you an idea that the risk from one exposure is generally low. If your partner was HIV-positive and on treatment, these risk would be even lower still.

I don’t know anything of your circumstances, but medically, nothing would be different if you found out you were positive a few days earlier.

Whether you want to spend £100 on a private test is your personal decision, but in the UK there is no need to do this, as routine fourth generation tests such as DUO will detect 95% of infections by 4 weeks after exposure.

12 comments

  1. Lisa Thorley

    Hi Paul,

    Having sex with someone who’s status you don’t know always carries some risk. Therefore, if you aren’t aware of the guys status, the best thing to do is to take a HIV test. For more on testing please see question one here:

    https://i-base.info/qa/what-are-the-most-asked-questions

    If something like this happens again, you could always take PEP. Here’s some info on PEP:

    https://i-base.info/qa/5255

  2. Paul

    Hi there, I’m very nervous. I was at a christmas party last week and when drunk the party moved to a gay nightclub in Vauxhall London! (High prevalence of HIV). This club had a area for sex on premises. I like a drunken fool met a guy and we went in there. I can’t remember much but i am very on top of wearing protection but being drunk i can’t actually remember this part ( i can’t see myself doing anything without), i was passive and i am very sure that we had sex for a few minutes then i stopped it. He did not ejaculate inside of me for definite. However just before this night out i suffered with a bad cold for two weeks and by the party night i was feeling myself again. The party was 1 week ago. I have since developed another cold, small ulcers in my mouth and a general feeling of tender all over. Should i be concerned?