[Question #10638] Symptoms after blood draw #2
 |
21 months ago
|
Hello doctors, I needed to return to the forum. After my last discussion with Dr. Hook, he advised me to move forward because no one contract HIV or other bloodborne viruses from having their blood drawn. However, I find myself unable to do so because I still have ongoing symptoms that worry me. I am certain I have some sort of infection, and my body still fighting it. Some of the symptoms include:
Recurrent fevers and burning throat
Recurrent muscle pain
Dizziness and nausea
Rash on my neck (resembling ringworm!)
Recurrent eye styes and paronychias
More outbreaks of cold sores
Seborrheic dermatitis (my skin becomes dry and flaky)
I must note that I have never had a sexual relationship, and I don't use drugs and I have been a very healthy person before all this .
When I told my story to my father, he did not believe me and thinks I'm exaggerating because I kept insisting that I may have been infected with HIV from the blood draw. In a shocking turn of events, he took a needle that I used to poke my paronychia and pricked himself with it. After about a week, he started experiencing a sore throat, fever, and back pain. Now I'm quite certain that I have HIV, and he is infected with it as well.
Now, I am reaching out to you, dear doctors, to help me figure out what I need to do. I am now 12 weeks post the blood draw. The tests I previously took are 4th-gen HIV tests at 19 days, 26 days, and 46 days post the blood draw, as well as HBV/HCV tests at 10 weeks, all came back negative.
1) Are these tests conclusive in my case? Do I need more testing?
2) Does experiencing fevers until now mean that my body is still producing antibodies, and the HIV test are missing it because there are no detectable antibodies?
3) Can a coinfection slow the production of HIV antibodies?
 |
H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
21 months ago
|
Welcome back, but I'm sorry you found it necessary. I'll be taking your question this time, but I have carefully reviewed your recent discussion with Dr. Hook. I agree exactly with his evaluation and advice.
There are the three main facts you need to know, understand, and believe. Dr. Hook made these points as well. And apparently so did your father: you should believe him!
A) You had a non-exposure event that could not possibly have given you HIV. B) You then had blood tests, which also are not possible sources of HIV infection. In the entire world there has not been a reported or even suspected case of HIV acquired during blood testing for over 40 years; it is impossible. (And it doesn't matter whether or not you saw that a fresh needle was used.) C) Negative HIV blood tests are 100% accurate in proving that by symptoms are not caused by HIV. Your negative test result prove you are not infected, no matter what symptoms you have now or in the future, and no matter how typical for ARS you think they might be.
Therefore the answers to your three questions are:
1) Yes conclusive, no more testing needed.
2) Something other than HIV is causing your fevers and any other symptoms you might have.
3) There are no medical conditions -- none -- that "slow the production of HIV antibodies". Also, your tests were not only for HIV antibody, but also for p24 antigen, part of the virus itself. If you had delayed antibody production, the p24 part of the test would be even more strongly positive.
Do your best to move on without further worry. Let me know if anything isn't clear -- but I will not reply further to any questions that ask to repeat any of the issues already discussed by Dr. Hook or in this reply.
HHH, MD
--- |
21 months ago
|
Thank you doctor for your reply, as i told dr Hook, I know that blood draw is a no risk, but the thing that stops me from moving forward is that I experienced (and still) symptoms that are typical for ARS and 10 DAYS after the blood draw, and now my father becoming sick 7 DAYS after pocking himself with the needle I used, so I can't believe that all of this are coincidental, and I also start doubting my tests results, 1) is there a chance of lab error? 2) Or can the 4th gen test miss the infection because the p24 antigens and antibodies are both undectable? 3) And what is your opinion about those small lymph nodes that I had in my elbow crease exactly at the site where my blood was drawn? (Now they are gone)
|
H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
21 months ago
|
You misunderstand ARS symptoms. Every symptom caused by ARS is also caused by many other medical conditions, most of them far more common than HIV. Even in people at highest risk, those with even very typical symptoms usually have something else. Symptoms almost never are useful indicators of a new HIV infection, but blood tests are 100% accurate in being positive if symptoms are due to HIV. You must reply on your blood test results. 1) Lab errors never occur, especially not on repeated tests. 2) If enough time has passed since exposure, there is no such thing as both HIV antigen and antibody being undetectable. It has never happened and never will. 3) "Small lymph nodes" like this are not the type and location that fits with HIV infection and the blood test results prove it.---
|
21 months ago
|
So to put all this behind, do you advise me to go to an infectious disease doctor to look for what causing my symptoms or just forget about it?
|
H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
21 months ago
|
You'll have to make your own decision as to whether your symptoms are sufficiently bothersome to seek a doctor's advice. Seems to me that you're just experiencing day to day minor health issues, with no evidence of any particular cause and certainly nothing that suggests immune deficiency. If you're concerned, see a family medicine physician (or its equivalent, if you're not in the US); I see no need for infectious diseases consultation.
That completes the two follow-up exchanges included with each question and so ends this thread. Please note the forum policy against repeated questions on the same topic or exposure. This being your second, with the same questions and identical opinions and advice each time, it must be your last. Further questions about such low risk events, HIV test results, and symptoms in absence of risk will be subject to being deleted without comment and without refund of the posting fee. This policy is based on compassion, not criticism, and is designed to reduce temptations to keep paying for questions with obvious answers. In addition, our experience is that continued answers to anxiety-driven questions simply prolong those anxieties, when a better option is usually to seek professional counseling. Finally, such questions have little educational value for other users, one of the forum's main purposes. Thank you for your understanding.
I do hope the discussions have been helpful and you can move on without giving these issues another thought. Best wishes and stay safe.