I tried to go back and ask my final follow up question but the question was closed so I had to pay for a new one. In reference to question 13612

I got tested using the 4th generation test exactly 50 days post incident. The test was negative.  Researching through Google AI it says to repeat the test after 3 months post incident. I have now gotten sick twice more after my initial illness which occurred 8 days post incident.  I rarely get sick so this is very odd. My symptoms are congestion and runny nose and cough with slight sore throat.  Similar type symptoms I had at 8 days post incident. My questions are:

1) should I get retested after 3 months?

2) if my test was wrong and either I didn’t wait long enough OR the lab messed up OR the person who drew my blood mislabeled it, do these ongoing symptoms mean my immune system may be compromised and that is why I’m getting sick more often?

Thank you 

Google and other AI resources generally are based on frequency of various online statements more than scientific accuracy. The truth is that the AgAb (4th generation) HIV tests are conclusive after 45 days, which for practical purposes often is rounded off to 6 weeks. Your negative result at 50 days was conclusive; and it is impossible to have HIV symptoms in the presence of negative test results. (Symptoms of HIV are not caused by the virus itself but by the immune response -- therefore if HIV antibody cannot be detected, any symptoms cannot be from HIV.) And your don't fit HIV anyway:  acute HIV infections do not cause nasal congestion, runny nose, etc; neither your symptoms at 8 days nor now are from HIV. Obviously you caught a cold, nothing more. On top of all that, you seem to have pretty much ignored Dr. Hook's advice that the exposure you described last time was no risk at all for HIV.

Those comments cover your specific questions, but to assure no misunderstanding:

1) There is no need for further testing at 3 months or any other time.

2) The immune deficiency caused by HIV does not increase the risk of common day to day infections. It leads to more severe outcomes of some infections, but not increased susceptibility to them. Your symptoms indicate nothing more than common cold, allergy, and similar problems.

Please do your best to believe the science and relax. Also perhaps it will help you to know that in the 21 years of this and our preceding forum, with thousands of questions about possible HIV after worrisome exposures, nobody has yet turned out to be HIV positive. You will not be the first. If and when it finally happens, surely it will be a genuinely high risk exposure; if symptoms are present, they will be typical for a new HIV infection; and test results will not be atypical in timing.

Let me know if I can clarify things any further. Best wishes and stay safe.

HHH, MD