Posted by DrDick on February 08, 2001 at 07:27:28:
In Reply to: Re: Get an HIV test ("one STD usually travels w/another") posted by Ritmo on February 06, 2001 at 20:33:05:
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Good questions. You are right that the HIV tests are less useful early after exposure. The usual screening tests (ELISA= enzyme linked immunosorbant assay, I think, and Western Blot) test for ANTI-BODIES. These take several weeks to months to develop in numbers sufficient to show up on these tests. Unfortunately, the antibodies DO NOT kill the virus or the virus-infected white blood cells. So they are useful only as a screening marker. And a negative test means No antibodies or NOT ENOUGH to test positive. There are more direct tests to test for virus particles/proteins. These may also be unreliable early in the course of an infection, as there may not be enough virus to measure. So testing after maybe 6 weeks, and then maybe at 6 months is the usual recommendation. Unfortunately, the addage regarding STD's travelling together may indeed be true. The usual arguement is that one who engages in risky behavior is more likely to get one, or more than one infection. Which I guess in prinicple includes all mongers. So someone who comes down with Gonorrhea, Syphilis, Chlamydia, or a viral thing like herpes or warts, is believed to be more likely to also catch HIV. Probably because of the reasoning that higher risk for catching one means higher risk for catching another. However, to answer your question, I do NOT know whether it has actually been studied. Perhaps Shy Guy or Frozin1 knows more.
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