Greetings.

I had a question regarding Hiv exposure. I recently kissed a man of unkown HIV status and realized later that he had chapped lips. I dont remember if i tasted blood. But we did not indulge in sex or any form of deep kissing.

About 8-9 days later i got a scratchy throat and 99.5 tp 100.4 fever . I also did a home COVID antigen test. The COVID test turned out positive. 

My worry is, i read an article and it mentioned that people with ARS may get positive antigen tests because of cross reactivity of some proteins.

Request if you could please advise if this is true and as well on the level of my risk.

Thanks

HIV is not transmitted by kissing, with or without chapped lips. Even if he had blood in his mouth and has HIV, swallowing that blood is very low if any risk:  oral exposure to the virus is always little or no risk. 

Most likely this person was not the source of your COVID infection, for which symptoms typically start within 5 days -- in fact, usually only 2-3 days since the omicron variant became the dominant strain.

I am unaware of reports of false positive COVID antigen test results in people with HIV. In response to your question, I did a quick but comprehensive search of the medical literature. There is a single report (from Greece) of a false positive rapid HIV antibody test in a patient hospitalized with severe COVID-19, but I find no reports of the opposite result, i.e. altered COVID test results in people with HIV. In any case, this really isn't relevant to your situation. Only 8-9 days after exposure is much too early for any kind of immune response to a new HIV infection that would alter your COVID test result.  You can be sure you indeed had COVID, and there is no reason to be concerned about HIV. I don't recommend HIV testing in this situation.  You are not at risk, even if it turns out your kissing partner has HIV.

I hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD

just to mention i am a gay male though i haven’t been sexually active .

this was my only exposure . also wanted to check what are the ars symtoms ?

i am currently having an itchy throat ,fever 99.5 to 100.2 .

also when u say low risk . is there a risk if both me and him had chapped lips or any minor cuts on the lip ?

plz advise . thanks 

You describe typical symptoms of COVID and you have a positive test for it. That's what you have. HIV shouldn't even be on your mind. ARS could include similar symptoms, but that's true of almost any infection you can think of. You can be 100% certain your symptoms are not from ARS. The most common ARS symptoms are sore throat, fever, skin rash, and swollen lymph nodes. But even in people with real exposures, which you did not have, even these symptoms usually are due to thing other than HIV. And half of new HIV infections cause no ARS symptoms at all.

Do your best to move on with no further worries or concerns about HIV from the kissing event.

final questions .

1. Could any exposure in the past to hiv coz my covid rapid antigen and covid rtpcr test to come back positive (tested for covid yesterday) ?

2. i have not had any anal sex or oral swx in the last 3 years and have tested last about a year back . my only exposures in the last 3 years have been mutual masturbation and kissing . 

3. how high is the fever in ars ? i had a fever upto 100.2 yesterday and today it’s been about 99.7 without taking any paracetamol.

4. does antibiotics help reduce ars symtoms ?

4. would paracetamol reduce the fever caused by ars ?

5. do i need to be cautious about kissing in the future or is it totally safe ? 

thanks for all your help  dr .

2. I don't see a question here. No comment.

3. Level of fever makes no difference. It can be none or mild or high with either HIV or COVID, or almost anything else that causes fever.

4. Antibiotics have no effect on any viral infection, including ARS.

4 (again). Yes, paracetamol (called acetominophen in the US) can reduce fever, no matter the cause.

5. Kissing does not transmit HIV, but is a good way to pass on a COVID infection. No kissing until your COVID is gone.

That completes the two follow-up exchanges included with each question and so concludes this thread. You can completely dismiss HIV from your worries and concerns. I hope this discussion has helped you do that. Best wishes and stay safe.