A service provided by the BC Centre for Disease Control
In the years since SmartSexResource launched, we have developed a library of questions asked by you, and answered by our expert sexual health nurses.
Our answered questions library cover a broad range of sexual health topics and common questions we hear at our clinics.
The rapid HIV tests are only 95% accurate at most. False positives are quite common with the rapid test which does not indicate that you have HIV. The rapid tests are never used to diagnose someone here in British Columbia due to the large margin of error. I recommend that you complete a more accurate HIV testing that includes HIV antibodies and HIV RNA. I have provided you with a link that can connect you to clinic where you can complete these tests. https://smartsexresource.com/get-tested/clinic-finder
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Hi
Your sexual partner would need to have an STI for them to be able to pass one to you.
What could happen is they have a negative test but end up having an STI (we call this a false negative test). It’s also possible they could have an STI that was not tested for.
The two situations that can come up in regard to testing accuracy are the window period and the quality of the sample. I can give you some example in regard to this. Window period is the time it takes for an STI to show up on a test after it has passed to someone. Say you have a partner who had a previous sex partner and gets a test a couple of days after having sex, in this case their test would be done too soon and most likely would not pick up an STI if one had been passed to them.
Quality of the sample is also another factor, say a test for chlamydia was done but the person had just urinated before doing the test or a swab sample was not taken well enough or from the correct place e.g. a test was taken from the genitals but they actually had the STI in their throat. These examples show how someone can have an STI but a test may have showed a negative result.
The other example is if a test for a certain STI was not done or it’s not possible to do one. For example someone comes into our clinic with no symptoms and gets a routine STI screen. At our clinics a routine screen for someone without symptoms would include gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, HIV and maybe hepatitis (depends on risk and vaccine history). This means that a person could have a common STI like herpes simplex virus (HSV) or human papillomavirus (HPV) and not know it. Currently we have no test available for HPV testing in our clinics. There are HSV blood tests available that can be helpful in certain situations but are not good screening tests so we do not use them for routine STI testing.
Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any further questions or concerns.
Health Nurse
Hi
Let me know if I got this wrong but is sounds like the condom slipped off while you were having vaginal sex.
The concern would be if you came in contact with any vaginal fluids when this happed, I could see that depending were the condom was when it slipped off that your penis may or may not have come in contact with vaginal fluids.
It sounds like you have been really safe with using condoms for vaginal/oral sex and going for STI testing on a regular basis. As it is possible that your penis may have come in contact with vaginal fluid I would recommend going in for a STI test, as this would be like having unprotected vaginal sex in terms of risk. In terms of the chance of something passing this is hard to know as it really depends if the person has an STI in the first place, even if they have an STI it is never 100% that it will pass the one time you have sex.
STI like chlamydia and gonorrhea usually show up in a urine test by 2 weeks so it best to wait at least 2 weeks before getting tested unless you develop symptoms e.g. discharge from penis, hurts when you pee, sores on the penis etc.… Blood tests that check for STI like HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B usually show up by 6 weeks on a test but can take up to 3 months to get a final result.
Given this I would recommend waiting 2 weeks before getting a STI check and then go back at 6 weeks to repeat the blood test. I would also consider getting the hepatitis B vaccine if you have not had it already. We know it can be a stressful for some people when they have to wait to do a test and then wait for the results. If this is happening for you, let us know if you need any help or support during this time.
In terms of using condoms in the future having a condom that fits better (feels comfortable and you can roll it down all the way) can decrease the chance of it slipping off and we also find that some people like using a female condom if they are having a problem with a male condom fitting.
Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse
Hi, and thank you for your question
If the same tests are ordered by both providers (eg. HIV testing is ordered by both the STI clinic and by the care providers in a hospital) then both tests should have the same result.
For example, if a person does NOT have an HIV infection, and has an HIV test done in two different locations (one in an STI clinic and another done at a hospital) then both test results will be negative. It is always a good idea to ask a care provider (doctor or nurse) which tests are being ordered. A laboratory can only run tests on blood that a doctor or nurse has asked them to perform.
Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse
Hi, and thanks for your question
We don’t typically see HIV passed from oral sex, and the risk to the person receiving oral sex is considered very low. We more commonly see gonorrhea and chlamydia or infections that are passed through skin-to-skin contact like herpes or syphilis being passed this way. We always recommend routine testing for all sexually transmitted infections (HIV, syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea) for any sexually active individual
Our clinic finder can help you locate a clinic near you for testing.
Also check out our Know Your Chances charts. They are sometimes useful in understanding which STIs are passed through different types of sexual contact.
Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse
Hi, and thanks for your question
When you have blood taken for an STI test, the blood sample gets sent to the laboratory for the actual testing. The lab tests the blood for whatever the nurse or doctor has ordered on the requisition (sheet of paper that gets sent with the blood). Some tests, like syphilis, HIV and Hepatitis A, B, & C can be run from the same sample of blood in the same tube. The only way to know what your blood is being tested for is to ask your testing provider which tests they are ordering on the requisition when they take your blood.
Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse
Hi
Having a beer or another type of alcohol before doing a HIV test from the blood, would not affect the results.
Let us know if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse
Hi, and thanks for your question.
The symptoms you are describing are not specifically related to an HIV infection or any other sexually transmitted infection (STI). In fact, they are much more common with other things such as common colds and flus. If there is no sexual risk or risk through sharing needles with an HIV-infected person for intravenous drug use, then I would recommend visiting a family doctor or doctor at a walk-in clinic for a general full assessment and discussion.
When it comes to STI testing, we generally recommend testing for all STIs including chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis in addition to HIV since these infections are actually much more common than HIV.
Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse
Hi, and thanks for your question
This can definitely be normal. Some people have bigger more palpable (able to be felt) lymph nodes very close to the surface of the body, especially if a person is on the thinner side. Others are naturally smaller and a bit deeper down and less easy to feel. The fact that they are not causing you any pain is a good thing.
Of course we also do recommend regular testing for STIs including chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and HIV for all sexually active individuals regardless of whether there may be symptoms or not as many STIs don’t have any symptoms at all.
Have a look at our Clinic Finder to locate a clinic near you for testing
Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse
Hi, and thanks for your question.
The window period (the time between when a person comes in contact with a sexually transmitted infection (STI) and when the STI will show up on a test) for HIV and for syphilis is 3 months. In fact, 95% of HIV tests are accurate after just 6 weeks but it can take up to 3 months for the final result. It sounds like you have tested several times after this 3 month window period, which means that your tests will be accurate and that you are negative for both HIV and syphilis and it is not necessary for you to get tested again.
The symptoms you describe do not sound specific to either infection. It does sound like you are feeling quite anxious and it might be helpful for you to see a counsellor to talk about the anxiety you are feeling about this sexual encounter and the fear of possibly acquiring HIV or another STI.
Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse