Dr. Bob,

You Rule! I hope The Body pays for a first class round tripe Air France trip to Paris and of course the VIP lounge at the top Hotel in Paris of your choice. If ever anyone deserves a vacation it is you for all the hard work you do on this site. Ill be sitting here after July 25 awaiting your reply. I hope u can answer. Definitely suffered needlestick accident with positive patient. Found out too late to start PCP. Was bleeding in arm. Tested negative at 20 days with DNA PCR but having symptoms, mucus falling like crazy, running noise, soreness, fatigue, headaches. When must i test out to with this exposure to rule in or rule out hiv, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, or 2 years. What test can totally eliminate hiv in the shortest time possible. Thanks

De Marco

Hi,

The current recommendation is to test out to 6 months with an ELISA if you have had a significant exposure, such as a needlestick injury from a patient who is confirmed to be HIV-positive. Your negative DNA PCR at 20 days is extremely encouraging. Try not to focus too much on your symptoms, as they are very nonspecific, and not very characteristic of an acute seroconversion reaction.

The statistics would place your risk at approximately 1 in 300. So, the odds are still very much in your favor. Good luck. We'll all be rooting for you!

I'll pass your "suggestion" about first class airfare, VIP lounges, and 5-star hotels on to the powers that be!

Dr. Bob