Iam a heterosexual male and in August, my partner of more than a year was diagnosed as HIV positive and Hep. B positive during a blood test related to a pregnancy.

I was tested on August 28th for HIV, VDRL, Hep B, C and a whole raft of other stuff ... I tested negative.

I returned for another test on November 12th (approximately ten weeks later) and was tested for HIV & VDRL .... again negative.

Question : Is it certain that I am uninfected with the HIV virus?

Question : Did I leave a long enough "gap" between tests?

Question : When should I test again?

Question : How can I have unprotected sex with my partner for more than a year and test negative ... I know that she has not had other sexual partners whilst she has been with me and must have contracted the disease from a previous partner?

My partner took the news of her infection very badly and after having tried desperately to support her for several months, we are now no longer together ..

How can I help her??

While I cannot guarantee you that you are uninfected, you can be very confident that you are not. The usual recommendation is to test again at approximately six months. It is very rare for someone to not develop antibodies (which is what you are being tested for) by six months after infection with HIV. (Most people develop antibodies within three months, once infected.) Some people like to follow-up a year later, just to be sure. HIV is not the easiest virus to transmit and many people are lucky to not get infected even after multiple exposures. There are a number of biological reasons why infection may not occur. It sounds unfortunate that you and your partner have broken up. All you can do is express your love, support, and caring and see if there isn't a chance for you two to be together, if that is what you want. But she needs to want it too.