[Question #9359] HIV positive oraquick. Freaking out . Is this a false positive.

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33 months ago
Visited Europe.  last month. Had an encouter in london and couple of places. Always practised safe sex .

1. 2 occasions of vaginal sex . used condom. CANT Recollect or imagine any condom tearing . completely felt like followed rules.  
2. Asked person of their hIV status . AND THEY Affirmed they get tested regular basis and they are safe and assured they have lives outside of this and they dont want to mess up their health and they never do unsafe sex. 
 
3. Has Un protected oral sex.  I have a tooth decay in my wisdom tooth , i realized late. No cavity yet .

NOTE: 
My niece (brothers daugeter) got some Flu  . (1 year old) and she passed it along to the entire family.  the last month she spread it to the entire family. Everyone in my family has cough . and i had severe cough , nasal congestion ,  mild fever for a few days and some fatigue. i was on double antibiotic and i recently recovered  few days ago. (after suffering for 10 days. ).  I am mostly recovered , but i still have some cough and mild nasal congestion.  I just wanted to get tested as part of doing due diligence safe practice and i get the ORA quick ORAL SWAB and it came out positive.

I am freaking out. i cant possibly think of any exposure of any risk unless if i have been mislead somehow. I am not able to think properly. I have always been safe and i cant imagine what is happening. PLEASE HELP WHAT IS HAPPENING.

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33 months ago
I heard my family doctor in london say its common EPB , and i had a viral + bacterial infection so treated me with antibiotics for a week. I am almost better , but i still have some cough.  I cant imagine doing some mistake. I am extremely careful with any encounter. I am really worried. 
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33 months ago
Small correction . i have had flu like symptoms for past 2 weeks . Antibiotics and self care reduced cough etc . Still mild cough present . i also lost my voice for some days . My family members also lost their voice . And provably lesser cough. The baby was coughing more frequently.  i probably tested at the wrong time but im trying not to panic 
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33 months ago
Also, my doctor said i had mild bronchistis in upper bronchea (kind of like pneumonia) . So thats why the antibiotics.  i finished my antibiotics 3 days ago after like an 8 day course . i still have some fatigue and a little tiny cough . but mostly reduced . 
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33 months ago
If its true the risk of hiv from unprotected sex with hiv + partner is like one in a few hundred or thousand , i had protected (condom) sex .my odds must be very low right . I don’t understand this testing 
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33 months ago
Also , what ever symptoms i got( voice gone , mild fever , a bit of fatigue ) my family also had similar symptoms. And i didnt do any EBV  testing. The doc kind of said it could be EBV or some flu virus . There are lots of them. im not able to mentally contemplate this to a positive oral swab . My last exposure was October 16th 
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33 months ago
Also , i have not taken a flu shot in 2022. 
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33 months ago
Does a rapid test like oraquick differentiate from antibodies of hiv vs any antibodies of flu . Please advice what to do .
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
33 months ago
Welcome to our Forum.  I'll be glad to comment but the best advice I can give you is that you need to repeat your testing with a 4th generation, combination HIV antigen/antibody test.  The OraQuick test is an antibody only test and false positives do occur, although this is rare.  

The sexual encounters you describe were low risk.  Most people do not have HIV and you did the right thing by asking, condom protected sex is safe sex as long as the condom is worn throughout  the entire encounter, and the risk of acquiring HIV from performing unprotected sex on an untreated, infected partner is far less than one infection for every 10,000 sex acts.

Recently acquired HIV can present with flu-like symptoms (sore throat, fever, muscle and joint aches) but these same symptoms are far, far more often caused by other, non-STI illnesses such as COVID-19 or influenza.  The fact that others in your family have similar illnesses to you makes it more likely that your symptoms are due to influenza or COVID than HIV.

As I said above, you need to be tested for COVID, for influenza, and for HIV using a better test than the OraQuick.  You do not mention where you are located but in most places you should be able to get these tests and get test results back in less than 24 hours.  EWH
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33 months ago
I am currently in the US. how soon should i get the 4th gen test ? . 
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33 months ago
What tests should i do for influenza.
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
33 months ago
You should seek testing for HIV now.  If you have HIV another test, other than an OraQuick will be positive. Your doctor can do tests for COVID and influenza with a throat swab.

Tests are widely available throughout the U.S.  Results are typically available in less than a day.  There are also places in the most locations where you should be able to get an HIV test result in a day or less.   you might call your local health department and ask where you can get tested and get quickest results.  

Reminder- we provide up to three responses to each client's questions.  You have one more question that you can ask.  EWH
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33 months ago
Thanks . I got tested for influenza and covid and they came negative. I also did three additional oraquick swabs at three locations today , they call came negative.  And my. Cough also reduced from yesterday.  I will follow up with a 4th gen test in the next few days . I dont know what to make of the three hiv negatives today starkly opposite the positive yesterday. But will take it as a good sign 
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
33 months ago
This is good news and makes more sense than for you to have acquired HIV from the encounter you described.  Something must have gone wrong with your first Oraquick.  I anticipate that your 4th generation test will also be negative.  When it is, you can move forward without concern.

This is my last formal reply to this thread but I will leave it open in the hope that you will be willing to share the results of your 4th generation test.  If you will, I will provide a final comment when you do, but not before.

This is good news.  Take care.  EWH
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33 months ago
Sorry , I have not been able to Muster the courage to get a blood test since last 2 weeks . Everytime i go , i seem to hit a panic attack. So far I am at week 6 , I have repeated Oraquick 8 times in total and all of them reported negative (after the initial reactive). I want to move past this , but it is making me so nervous.  
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32 months ago
Doctor , you were right all along .

Quest 4th gen test through vein is non reactive at 45 days . My story is an interesting one for others . 


1 . I tested many many times for oraquick . Probably 12 times in total . I noticed the first time and the 11th time test came positive . While I completely freaked out the first time on the 11th time (right before driving to quest) i didnt wash my mouth completely from the bagels i ate . Even though 20-30 minutes has passed , if the mouth is not completely free of absolutely any food particles the test seems to react. Same thing happened the first time too. I could still feel the breath of my food i ate 30 mins ago . 

For the other 10 negative oraquicks i washed my mouth thoroughly with colgate. Drank water. Waited for 30-40 minutes and then tested with the saliva at 40 mins. And they all came negative . 

This product is an extremely dangerous product . It has the potential to destroy lives if it is not used under exact testing conditions.  I went into a complete state of panic because of this . And i want to make sure anyone who uses this to not use this product . Its dangerous. 
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
32 months ago
Thanks for sharing your experience.  I'm pleased that you will now be able to move forward.  Take care.  EWH---