I had an unprotected sexual encounter 1 week 4 days ago. Since then I have been totally paranoid about hiv and have been scanning the web for symptoms. I am normally a very anxious person and this has made me feel completely sick with fear. 1 week 1 days since the encounter I developed a rash on both of my upper arms and part of my back.. Its an area where i often have pimply spots but there is definately much more of them now. Small spots against a redish background although the redness has now started to clear. (1 week 4 days since the contact) I have read that rashes are the first signs of infection so need to know what to do...e.g when to test. Would there normally be other symptoms assoociated with the rash. I know there is no set answer to all this stuff..but would you expect the rash to appear so quickly after possible contact?

Thank you

The rash you described would be very unlikely to be due to HIV infection. Since for many persons stress over the issue can be high, I would suggest talking to someone about an HIV test in 6 weeks--the odds are very good that it will be negative and that would be a relief. KH