Hello Mr Ryan. I have posted questions before but never answered. But that is OK since 10 months after my exposure I had my HIV test results negative. My question is. I know there are several HIV strains as well as HTVLI disease. I live in the island of Cyprus(eastern Mediterranean sea-east Europe) and from what I have read we have the subtype I which in my knowledge belongs to the M category. Can the antibody test Elisa detect the strain of I and O? And my second question. Is there any test that can detect HTLVI? when I went to the lab and I asked them about it they didn't know what I was talking about. The reason I'm still worried a little bit is that I still have sore muscles and some tingling is many parts of my body like nose eye lid legs etc. Thank you for your time

I first want to encourage you to look for other causes to your muscle aches and tingling sensations. If your antibody test was negative at 10 months, it is safe to say that you are HIV negative.

For questions about HIV strains, please refer to my response to "Rare HIV Strains into Perspective" (http://www.thebody.com/Forums/AIDS/SafeSex/Archive/Testing/Q11685.qna).

In regard to your question about HTLV-I, read "HTLV-I Testing and Symptoms Timeline" (http://www.thebody.com/Forums/AIDS/SafeSex/Archive/Hepatitis/Q9224.qna) and "HTLV Transmission" (http://www.thebody.com/Forums/AIDS/SafeSex/Archive/Hepatitis/Q9263.qna).

RMK