[Question #5116] HIV

79 months ago

Hi,

I recently returned from Thailand where I had a tattoo. It was a bamboo style tattoo done by a Sak Yant master.

3 days after the tattoo I started coughing (dry cough) on the flight home, this was followed by muscle aches and cramps, fatigue, feeling hot (although I constantly checked my temp and only once was it above 38 deg very briefly) shortly after a sore throat came and lasted for approx 2 days. In totality this lasted around 5 days and I hardly ate so lost around 2kg in weight. Pretty much everything has now gone apart from the cough which is now productive however I did have bad night sweats and diarrhoea last night which has which has worried me.

Really there’s a couple of things i’d like to know

1. The majority of resources state ars starts 1-3 or 2-4 weeks after infection and never before, there are a couple of articles (one on the body.com) that say it could start within a week http://www.thebody.com/Forums/AIDS/SafeSex/Q229344.html

What’s the definitive? Is 3 days medically possible?

2. Is a dry cough that turns productive ever the predominant symptom in ars? I’ve read a few seroconversion stories and none ever really mention a cough at all.

3. Does the exposure and symptoms described warrant testing?

Thank you

Edward W. Hook M.D.

79 months ago

Welcome to the Forum. I'll do my best to help but I am not familiar with bamboo style tattoos or the work of Sak Yant masters so I cannot comment on techniques or associated risk. The symptoms you describe however are not those of the ARS, nor is the timing correct making it unlikely that this is HIV The ARS occurs as the body begins to make antibodies to infection and three days is too soon for antibody production to be established. There are many other illnesses of the sort you describe which people regularly acquire while traveling and this is more likely to be one of those than HIV. To elaborate related to your specific questions:

1. I have never heard of ARS symptoms beginning sooner than 7-10 days after exposure. Three days sounds too early.

2. Cough is not a typical symptom of the ARS and certainly not a productive cough

3. This is tougher for me to comment on because of my lack of knowledge on the tattoo method you describe. I would suggest that you approach it from the following perspective- you are concerned enough to have spent your money to ask your question here, testing is easy and accurate. Thus if you test at his time and the test is negative, you can be confident that the symptoms you experienced were not due to HIV (combination HIV antigen/antibody tests are positive at the time and certainly a day or two after the onset of ARS symptoms). Once six weeks have passed since your tattoo, any test results would be definitive.

I hope these comments are helpful. EWH

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79 months ago

Thank you for your quick reply, it’s hugely appreciated.

Sounds like my current symptoms are down to something else then - i’ll pay a visit to my local GP if they don’t clear in a couple of days.

The guy that did the tattoo used a new needle as I saw him get it out of the wrapper. The process is that the needle (which is actually steel and not bamboo anymore) is then dipped in the ink and then used to puncture the skin.

I guess the only danger would really be if the ink had been used before and the virus could survive in the ink. Is that even possible?

Thanks again.

Edward W. Hook M.D.

79 months ago

Thanks for the additional information. From what you say, the new needle was likely sterile and safe. While in theory the ink, if re-used might have been contaminated, I would also anticipate that virus would not have survived in it for long, if at all. My assessment is unchanged. EWH---