Question:

I am a bit worried tonight as my girlfriend is seemingly diagnosed with AIDS according to her doctor in Hong Kong. She was told of a "positive" result while pending another confirmation next month. The problem with this reality is that she was told her late ex-boyfriend died of AIDS and we believe she had intercourse with him in 2003. But, what I have read from CDC and elsewhere would not paint such reality because within these period she would have all the syndromes and AIDS antibody volumes large for a definite confirmation already. Please let me know what is the situation here? She is healthy now so if she really did contract the virus from her ex–boyfriend she would have a sure confirmation from her doctor of which he said that her diagnosis is "positively" accountable but can't prove the case. I am afraid that her testing session then was tainted by some bio- chemistry abnormalities of her stress, life, diet , medications or even daily schedules, I need your advice to clarity this heavy doubt, your assistance is highly appreciated.

Answer provided by:

Daniel Lee, M. D.
Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine
UCSD Medical Center
Owen Clinic

In regards to your question about your girlfriend's HIV diagnosis, it sounds very possible that she could be HIV positive. It is possible that she may have contracted HIV from having unprotected sex with her ex-boyfriend (who had HIV/AIDS) back in 2003. The fact that she is healthy is good, but that does not help us in knowing whether or not she is HIV-infected or not. It is not unusual for people to be infected with HIV and feel healthy for many years before having symptoms which might suggest that she is sick. The only way to tell if she is HIV positive is to get tested, which it sounds like she did. The tests are very accurate (about 99% accurate), so if the results did come back truly positive, then she likely is HIV positive. My suspicion is that the confirmation test will likely be positive, but you should wait for the result to come back. The good news is that if she is positive, at least we know. The focus will then need to be on probably treating her HIV with medications, which can significantly improve her health.

I hope this helps. Thanks for your question and good luck.

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