Hi there from Italy and thanks a lot for all the care and competence you're giving us. Two weeks and a half ago I was tested HIV+; the results that came through today tell me that my viral load is <400 and CD4's are at 621. The doctor told me to my great surprise that the acute phase was already over and that I also unknowingly caught mononucleosis. How can it have happened seeing as I tested negative in June 2001? Apart from that that can be a secondary question, the main one is that my knees have hurt for about 5/6 days: do you think it's just stress or is there such things as bone infections?

I don't think your bone aches are driectly related to your HIV infection. Possibe explanations for your having an undetectable vital load without any treatment include: 1) you may be fortunate and are a long-term non-progressor; 2) you were infected with a strain that is not measured by the PCR viral load test. Ask your doctor to do a "bDNA" (branched chain DNA) viral load test. On the basis of what you've written, I don't see how your doctor can say that you also have mononucleosis. Acute HIV causes a mononucleosis-type syndrome, so there is either missing information or an incorrect diagnosis as far as that goes. Ask your doctor if you have a ppositive test for mono itself.