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Had Unprotected Sex. Having Stomach Ache. Blood Work Showed High Monocyte Level. Could Hiv Be Involved?

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Posted on Wed, 29 Aug 2012
Question: HI, i recently got blood work done on 8/2/12 due to stomach aches, and they told me i had a high monocyte level but that it wasnt anything to worry about because it wasnt to high. Could hiv be involved? also i had unprotected sex about 4 months ago. i was tested about 1 month n a half months after unprotected sex and it was negative but now im worried because of the high monocyte level. please help me ease my worries. thank you.
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Answered by Dr. Aparna Kohli (6 hours later)
Hi XXXXXXX
Thanks for writing in.
A high monocyte level is not related to HIV. This could be due to several other reasons like viral infections, parasitic infections or a chronic inflammatory process. It can be a non specific process as well. To rule out HIV however, we would need to do a ELISA for HIV-1 and HIV-2 since you do have that history. If this is negative, HIV is conclusively ruled out.
Also, I would suggest that you always choose protected intercourse. There are way too many sexually transmitted diseases apart from HIV that we need to be wary about.
Hope that helps
Regards
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Dr. Aparna Kohli

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Practicing since :2009

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Had Unprotected Sex. Having Stomach Ache. Blood Work Showed High Monocyte Level. Could Hiv Be Involved?

Hi XXXXXXX
Thanks for writing in.
A high monocyte level is not related to HIV. This could be due to several other reasons like viral infections, parasitic infections or a chronic inflammatory process. It can be a non specific process as well. To rule out HIV however, we would need to do a ELISA for HIV-1 and HIV-2 since you do have that history. If this is negative, HIV is conclusively ruled out.
Also, I would suggest that you always choose protected intercourse. There are way too many sexually transmitted diseases apart from HIV that we need to be wary about.
Hope that helps
Regards