Question

Is my change in complete blood count an indication of HIV?

11 June 2010. Related: All topics, HIV testing, HIV transmission.

Hello Doctor!

I’m a female. I had unprotected sex at the beginning of January with a man. After 2 weeks I developed the worst flu a human being can imagine. I had nausea, headache, stiff neck, fatigue. This lasted for 2 months. I tested positive for Chlamydia and got doxycycline treatment.

I was tested at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 months with 4th generation tests (antigen p24) here in Italy all were negative.

Is it possible, that I got some strange viral strain, which the ELISA would not pick up? What is very scary to me is my Complete Blood Count (CBC). My lymphocytes fall from 30 % to 15%!!! Is this showing I have it?

Thank you so much for the answer, I appreciate it!

Answer

Answer: Charlotte Walker

Thank you very much for your question.

Firstly, I should point out that we are not doctors but HIV treatment advocates.

If you have had 5 negative HIV tests then you do not have HIV. It is not possible for the ELISA test to have missed HIV infection 5 times. The ELISA tests are over 99% accurate.

The change in your CBC could be due to the Chlamydia, the flu or another underlying infection.

For more information on HIV testing please follow this link