Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date. My girlfriend tested positive for HIV 1 and syphilis about ten months ago and she's now 8 months pregnant with our child. I tested negative 10 months ago when we both went to see the doctor. I wasn't tested for syphilis but a few weeks later I had sores on the foreskin of my penis, for which I was given antibiotics. I doubt if the antibiotics worked but the warts disappeared about 4 weeks later. 10 months later (May 10, 2004) I went for another HIV test (they tested my blood using three different tests except the ELISA) and they all came negative.
I intend to go back again in three months
but I can't shake the feeling that maybe the syphilis (which I
suspect to be latent) might be altering the true results. I
haven't always been cautious as well. I've never slept with
anyone else, only my girlfriend.
Could you explain to me what's happening!
It sounds as if you are going through some challenging times.
The antibiotics that are given for syphilis are almost always
given by injection, so I'm not sure that you have been treated
for that disease. If your tests have been repeatedly negative, it
is unlikely that you have it. I can't be at all sure what the
lesions were on your penis, but they probably were not true
"warts," as these are caused by a virus that does not respond to
any antibiotics, oral or injected. Perhaps they were some other
sexually transmitted disease. I suggest you ask your doctor.
If by "I haven't always been cautious," you mean that you are having unsafe sex with your girlfriend, you should be tested again for HIV. While female to male transmission is less efficient than in the other direction, it certainly does occur frequently.
Syphilis does not really alter the results of an HIV test, especially if you don't have it, as your tests would indicate. You should be aware that it does make it easier to transmit HIV through open sores.
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