My daughter has had rheumatiod arthritis for several year, and in the last 12 months has also been diagnosed with LUPUS. Now she has been told that she has HIV - she is not promiscuous, does not take drugs and has never had a blood transfusion - how is it possible for her to had contracted HIV or is it in some way connected to her having LUPUS?

I am so sorry to hear about this terrible news regarding your daughter. "Promiscuous" is a difficult term and we need to remember that if she has even had a single sexual partner, she may be at risk for HIV infection. The lupus/rheumatoid arthritis would not in itself increase the risk of getting HIV unless she is on medications for these conditions that would weaken her immune system.

As an aside, whenever I get someone who has a positive HIV test and it is unclear how the infection might have been acquired, I begin by repeating the test to make sure there wasn't a mix-up with the first blood sample.