Question
Could the test have missed me?
30 July 2008. Related: All topics, HIV testing, HIV transmission.
Hello, I had unprotected oral and protected full sex with a woman who I paid to have sex with me in Africa. There was alcohol involved and with my anxiety I am worried that I may not have noticed the condom breaking or coming off.
I took the HIV duo test at Regents park clinic in London after 5 and a half weeks. It came back negative.
Everything has been fine until now 10 weeks on I seem to have sore glands on my neck and under my arms. Do you think there is a chance the duo test has missed me? I thought it was pretty much conclusive but now I fear I’m wrong and could be infected? Any help would be great.
Answer
Thank you for your question to i-Base.
There are several things to consider:
i) you assume that every sex worker is HIV-positive. This is not the case. Quite often the opposite, as sex workers are better educated about protecting their health compared to the general public and look after their clients to protect their business.
ii) you do not know whether there has been exposure at all.
iii) enlarged lymph nodes can be related to many other causes.
What I am trying to say is that the chances of you being infected are really low. There is some further information on infection and testing here.
Finally, we advise everybody with an active sexual life to get tested regularly-say once every 6 months.