Dear Dr. Aberg, After a high risk exposure with a person of unknown hiv status, I have had many test done in a three month period as my doctor thought I was having syptoms (night sweats, diarrhea, loss of weight and appetite) as of this point I am hiv-. 70 day elisa and pcr rna and 90 day elisa all negative. I was checked for stds 23 days after exposure chamydia and gnorrhea also negative. While all this was going on I had a clear and sometimes white discharge went back to gyn. and now I am told I have a bacterial vaginosis. This has now freaked me out I back to day one again. What should I do is this and initial sign of hiv or a std. Please help I am panicking. Thank you

Stop panicking. Bacterial vaginosis is not a sexually transmitted disease. It is caused by a bacteria that can be found in healthy women who do not have symptoms. For some reasons understood and others unclear, this bacteria overgrows the other bacteria in the vagina and causes inflammation. This is not related to HIV.

Congratulations for getting all your testing done. I know that is the scary part. Now that you know you are negative, you need to take precautions to stay that way. Remember to find out the status of any new partners. Ask them to get tested before you have sex. And always, use a condom.