not sure

[thando]

hello guys ,yesterday i went to a clinic with my boyfriend to test for hiv since the condom broke on us ,we went in seperately because apparently he was scared to see his results with me however he was negative,i was called in and told that i was negative too and the nurse showed me the rapid hiv test like he had done with my boyfriend and told me that had i been positive there would be lines both in the control and the patient sides..however the control line was not a straight line it was thick and not straight looked weird like a faint drop of blood or something before i even asked him told me that the line on looked weird but that did not matter he said what matters is there is no line in the patient side,to be honest it was really weird looking different from all the rapid tests i have taken,i did not think much about it until i explained to a friend of mine and he started talking about indeterminate *sp results thats when i went online and saw that there are tests that are indeterminate and will need to be taken again ,i am not sure how they look like on a rapid hiv test,now am wondering could mine have been that ,how does a rapid hiv indeterminate test look like,am sorry ify question is crazy but am really freaking out

[Jim Allen]

Hi

Googling stuff will only make you paranoid, as every man and his dog can publish stuff online, so stop it. That is my advice, and also stop freaking out, worrying about this will not change anything.

In short, the nurse who is paid and a professional read you the results and she is correct the thickness of the control line does not matter or change the result. Also tests like this are designed to confirm beyond the window period the negative status, as they do not give a positive result but merely a reactive result, the tests are hypersensitive for lack of better phrase meaning a reactive results simply means more specific and detailed testing is required to determine/confirm HIV status.

Keep in mind that HIV tests like this have a 3 month window period, as it can take that long to produce antibodies to HIV at levels this test can detect, so all the result indicates is you were HIV negative some 3 months ago.

Here's what you need to know in order to avoid hiv infection:
Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, every time, no exceptions.

Keep in mind that some sexual practices which may be described as ‘safe’ in terms of HIV transmission might still pose a risk for transmission of other STI's, so please do get fully tested regularly and at least yearly for all STI's including but not limited to HIV and test more frequently if unprotected intercourse occurs

Also note that it is possible to have an STI and show no signs or symptoms and the only way of knowing is by testing.

More information on HIV Basics, PEP, TaSP and Transmission can be found through the links in my signature to our POZ pages, this includes information on HIV Testing

Kind regards

Jim

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[thando]

Hello its me again, so today the house help was doing dishes and had to do something so i offered to finish doing the dishes for her i was using a steel wool and it pricked me i realised that it was old and needed to be replaced  so when the house help came back i told her she needed to replace it and she told me that she was so used to the pricks she had actually been pricked a few minutes before i got pricked, i did not want to ask her a lot about it since she is hiv +ve i did not want to offend her in any way, am sorry if i am being ignorant but judging by the fact that we got pricked minutes apart by the same steel wool, do i need PEP? is it an exposure?
Thank you for your time

[Ptrk3]

No, your brush with a Brillo pad was not an exposure.  The HIV is fragile and does not survive contact with oxygen.

Please access the link below and understand how the HIV is transmitted before you post again:

https://www.poz.com/basics/hiv-basics/hiv-transmission-risks

[thando]

hie guys its me again,i am not sure if i am now a paranoid person or if i am actually at risk,yesterday had sex with a friend of mine ,i know he has sex with other people but i just got carried away in the moment,he wanted unprotected sex but i insisted on  using condoms,he did not have any so i looked for some in my room,before sex i gave him a hand job but i had skin peeling off my fingers ,i do that all the time i do laundry using my hands ,had got these injuries about 4 hours prior they were still wet and a water like substance mixed with a little bit of blood came out every time i touched them,when i gave him the hand job he had so much precum a lot went on these wet wounds,up to now the wounds still hurt and they get wet wen i press them, i am really freaking out,please tell me should i get PEP since the precum came in contact with my fresh wounds?also realised that the condoms that we used were 5months past their expiration date however they did not break
should i be worried about these two incidents ,thank you in advance and my apologies for the numerous questions 

[Jim Allen]

The cuts on your hands, peeling skin was not a route for infection. But let's be paranoid and argue that you had life wounds to them so gaping open bleeding wounds on your hands, even than it would not be a hiv risk.

HIV is simply too fragile to transmit as once outside the human body the outer receptors needed to infect are damaged leaving it unable to infect you.

Move on with your life

Jim