What should i do to know whether i am HIV infected ?

Posted on Sun, 29 Apr 2012

Question: Hi, i just had unprotected sex with a girl, only to go into her bathroom and find drugs for HIV infection and antiviral?? she said she got raped 3 weeks ago and the doctor gave her the drugs as a precaution. it was a 400mg drug to be taken every 8 hours which seems really strong to me as a precaution. im completely lost and scared I think shes lying, what should i do

Answered by Dr. Rakhi Tayal (32 minutes later)

Hi,

Thanks for the query.

If the girl was raped 3 weeks ago then the first thing she should have done was to get herself checked for HIV infection. If she tested negative then there is no reason to take an anti- HIV drug just to rule out any future problems.

Sometimes it happens that immediately the test comes negative and the complete situation becomes clear after six months of exposure when repeat test would confirm. The dose of 400mg is a routine dose of these anti viral drugs and cannot be called as too strong. But the prophylactic medicine is never started until there is a considerable reason to think that she might be infected.

I would suggest you to get a HIV rapid test done and to be confirmed after 6 months of exposure.
It would be better to see your physician and discuss with him the benefits of Post exposure prophylactic antiretroviral therapy and if advised then would recommend to start the therapy as early as possible atleast within 72 hours of exposure.

Hope this answers your query. In case of any doubts, I am available for the follow ups.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar