Expert: Kristen Brannock, MPH - 1/25/2005

Question
-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
i heard there's is a strong co-realtions between yeast infection that dont respond to treatment and an HIV infection. i wanted to ask - incase a woman contract the HIV virus - does it make sense she'll start seeing a bad yeast that dont react to treatment as soon as a week after unprotected sex? can that be the 1st sign of HIV? i had unprotected sex and a few days later started having a real bad itch and discharge, i tried monistat otc but it didnt work for me. i didnt feel any of the "flue like" sympthoms ppl talk about inregards to 1st signs showing... the only thing i had was this infection. thank u for your time
Answer -
Yes, it is true that HIV can make a person more susceptible to repeat yeast infections...as with most infections because the immune system is weakened. However, it takes a while for the body's immune system to weaken and chances are symptoms would not develop in only a week. You cannot gauge your HIV status on symptoms though, and if you think you have put yourself at risk, should seek testing.

THANK U VERY MUCH FOR YOUR REPLY. i wanted to ask - what is the earliest you can test for HIV after possible exposure? what about chlamidia ,ghonoreah, siphillis and hapitatus a,b? how soon can u test for those? thank u!

Answer
You can test for Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Syphilis anytime after exposure I believe. However, with HIV, it takes a while for the body to produce enough antibodies to be detected by the test. So, people should wait anywhere from 1-6 months after exposure to test for HIV. If you go for testing they should offer counseling about this window period and the accuracy of the test within it. I'm not sure about testing for Hep A and B.