Need your help brah. I am an black male...not that it matters...that had unprotected oral and protected intercourse with female of unknown status. I had dna pcr at 35 days which based upon your archives I know that you are not a big fan of. It came back negative. Should I still get an antibody test? Thanks.

Hey,

Your HIV risk is negligible at best, assuming the latex condoms was used properly and did not fail. HIV cannot permeate intact latex (or polyurethane). No way. No how. That leaves your HIV risk as "unprotected oral." Oral sex carries an extremely low risk for HIV transmission.

Regarding HIV testing, you are correct: I don't recommend PCR testing, due to the rate of false-positives, other technical considerations, cost and the fact the FDA has not approved these tests for this indication. That said, I will tell you that the main problem with PCR testing is false-positives, not false-negatives. Consequently, your negative DNA PCR at 35 days is indeed extremely encouraging. I can't say it's definitive, because as mentioned above, this type of testing has not been approved for this indication. Consequently, to sum up, your HIV risk is remote and your testing to date is extremely encouraging; however, if you want a definitive, conclusive and FDA-approved negative result, you'll need to get an HIV-antibody test at the three-month mark. In my opinion, the results will be undoubtedly negative.

Hope that helps clarify things a bit.

Good luck. Stay safe. Stay well.

Dr. Bob