Contrary to what you might think from various media sources and in online discussions, symptoms almost never are useful in judging whether or not someone has recently acquired HIV. Even in people with high risk exposures plus absolutely typical symptoms of acute retroviral syndrome (ARS, i.e. new HIV infection) -- sore throat, fever, enlarged lymph nodes, skin rash -- the large majority have something else as the cause. And of all people with new HIV, half have no symptoms at all. For these reasons, symptoms very rarely are accurate indicators, whether typical, atypical, or absent.