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Good to go?
Apr 13, 2008
Dear Doctor,
About 2 months after a sexual exposure I developed symptoms: nausea, fatigue, SORE muscles and neck, loss of appetite. At 5 1/2 months (165 days) I tested neg for HIV 1/2 and
HepA antibody neg
HepB surface antigen neg
HepB core IGM antibody neg
Hep C antibody neg...
symptoms went away, and now (about a year later) symptoms resurfaced now with a very sharp pain in my right side?
Were those tests at 165 days post exposure reliable? is it safe to say i am not infected with HepA/B/C or HIV?
Do all people who are infected with HepB have the surface antigen?
Please help, i need to know if I should get tested again! Any advice would give me peace of mind! Thank you so much for your help!!
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Response from Dr. McGovern
My advice is the following:
1. Many illnesses can have similar symptoms. I suspect your workup is complete from a year ago.
2. If you have new symptoms now, something completely unrelated could be happening so see your doctor for a history and exam.
3. If you are concerned about Hepatitis B, get vaccinated. However, maybe you are already protected - I didn't see testing for surface antibodies which are protective antibodies that form after vaccination.
4. Yes all patients who develop HBV infection, first have evidence of surface antigen reactivity.
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