Question
Why am I HIV negative if my boyfriend is HIV positive?
29 January 2018. Related: All topics, HIV transmission, Sero different couples.
My partner and I recently went for an HIV test and my results came negative while his came positive. This is very strange because in the 2 years that we have been together, we hardly ever use a condom?
How does this come about? are there other cases like mine? is this possible?
Answer
Hi, how are you doing? and how is your partner?
Your situation is very common and you have just been lucky. The risk of catching HIV is usually quite low, even if you don’t always use condoms. It also related to many things, including your partners viral load (ie how infections he or she is).
The risk is highest in the first few months after infection (1 in 10 or higher). After the first year when viral load is lower, this might only be 1 in 500.
Depending on the type of sex you have, and how often, with these number you see how it could just be luck. You could still catch HIV the next time you are at risk. You should also have another HIV test in 3 months, to check that you were not infected in the few months prior to your original test.
A small percentage of people (less than 1% in the UK), have genetic protection against HIV infection. There are no commercial tests that are able to check this.
While many people think (or hope) they have this protection, and that they will be lucky and not catch HIV if they don’t use a condom, in reality they are usually wrong. This is why numbers of new infections are still increasing each year.
Your partners diagnosis sounds like it was a shock for both of you. Take time to find good resources and support, both for your partner and yourself while you come to terms with what has happened. This affects people in all sorts of ways, but with good treatment and care, your partner can expect to lead a long life.
Also, once your partner has undetectable viral load in ART, they are no longer able to transmit HIV.
For more information on monitoring and treatment see the i-Base Introduction to ART. Please also tell your partner that i-Base run a free treatment phoneline if he would like to talk directly about his care.
This answer was updated in January 2018 from a question posted in October 2007.
I found out a couple of weeks ago that I have hepatitis B. My boyfriend of a year got tested and he does not have it. He has not even formed an immunity to hepatitis B like expected. The doctor told us that it is as though he had not been in contact with it. Considering we are very sexually active and didn’t use protection once in the last 6 months how is it possible he does not have it and i do?
If you have had two negative HIV tests at 2-3 months after exposure then you do not have HIV. Your sore throat is more likely to be as a result of your anxiety making you a bit run down.
For further information on HIV transmission and testing please follow this link.
I think your family is right. You should be happy you are HIV negative and you should move on from this episode in your life.
Good luck in the future.
I am 19 years old and have had unprotected sex with a married 30 year old male. I have to say this is the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life! I have been feeling stressed everyday. It’s got to the stage of being all I can think about. I went to test at 2 months and a week after exposure and it came back negative. I then tested again at the 3 months mark and again at 3 months and 4 weeks – all were negative.
Weeks later I started to get headahes. I do usually have allergies. Now im waking up with a sore throat and I am trying to convince myself that its from sleeping in a cold basement! I’ve learned my lesson but I am still in terrible fear! Could I still be HIV positive? Please help. My family tells me I am paranoid and need to move on but is the six month test really necessary? I feel like this will never end. I pray to God every night hoping I am negative! Please help!
Thank you for your question.
To give you a more accurate answer it would help if you could please let me know when you tested after the exposure?
If you have tested negative for HIV then I would echo what you were told at the clinic – you should be happy you have not got HIV.
For more information on HIV transmission and testing please follow this link.
Hey you must be overwhelmed with all the question’s people ask you but I am hoping that you will still answer mine. I have had unprotected sex about 3-4 times in the past 3 months with someone who just tested HIV positive.
Although the woman at the clinic told me I should be happy I tested negative I am still afraid I have contracted the disease. Reading all of these situations I do feel hopeful but then again I don’t want to count my eggs before they hatch.
I never had broken tissue and I never bled. I always had air in my rectum after penetration and as I have read I am not sure of his vrial load count but I am hoping it is low. As you can imagine I am petrified.
Thank you for your question.
If you tested HIV negative 12 weeks after you had had sex with this man and again last year then you do not have HIV. For more information about HIV transmission and testing please follow this link.
I am so scared right now. I am a female, age 22 I have just found out that a person I had sex with 3.5 years ago is HIV positive. We had unprotected sex about 10 times, it was always short. I got pregnant by my boyfriend and stopped having sex with him. I was tested as routine for pregnant mothers and that was negative.
I have had unprotected sex with my boyfreind now for the past 4 years. I was tested last year around September and my results were negative once again. My boyfreind also says that he is negative as well. I’m afraid because of the information I just got, thinking what if those test were wrong. After all these years could I be infected? I need to know the possibility right away
I feel like im dying……………..Please Help!
Hi Miranda,
Thank you for your question.
There is no need to be scared of your boyfriend but it is wise to get all the information you need to help you both learn how to live with HIV.
Having unprotected sex with someone who is HIV positive will always carry a risk. However, if you boyfriend is stable on treatment, has no other sexually transmitted infections and his viral load (the amount of virus in his blood) has been undetectable for more than 6 months, then the likelihood of him transmitting it to you through unprotected sex is very small indeed.
For more information on rates of transmission for positive people on treatment please follow this link.
Hi,
I have been thinking about this for awhile.
I’ve been with my boyfriend for a year and half. His mother is HIV positive and has been with a man for 6 years having unprotected sex the whole time and his tests always came out HIv negative. She’s been taking medication since she found out 20 years ago while she was pregnant with my boyfriend. She said the medication is what’s helping her boyfriend stay negative.
My boyfriend has HIV also and is on medication. He always takes it on time. She told me for future reference that his blood level has been normal and basically its like he doesn’t have HIV while he is taking HIV medication.
I’m dying to talk to their doctor because he has known them for years. Is she crazy or insane telling me and my boyfriend this? I’m confuse and scared of him now.
HIV tests are generally about 99.5% accurate depending on the type of test you use and the time after exposure that you are tested. A confirmatory test is recommended as this will reduce the risk of a false positive or false negative test result. For more information about HIV testing please follow this link.