Does coughing, sneezing and twitching of eyes indicate HIV infection?
Faculty Incharge,
Sex and Marriage Counselling Clinic
Co-ordinator, AIDS Education & Training Cell,
Professor of Community Medicine
AIIMS, New Delhi- 110029
Q: I am a 25 years old male. Around six months back, I had protected sexual intercourse with a sex worker. After fortnight, I had mild coughing and sneezing that lasted for a couple of days. Since then, I have undergone five HIV screenings, which have all come out negative. After a couple of days, I started worrying about HIV, because I thought that the sex worker might have used a lambskin condom that does not protect against HIV. I developed twitch in my eyes that gradually spread to every part of my body. I consulted a doctor and he said that it was because of stress. He gave me anti-anxiety medicine and after a month, my twitching reduced by 75 %. Am I suffering from HIV?
A:We understand your anxiety. There is, of course, a lesson in all these events. That is, please do not indulge in sex with commercial sex workers. Please be careful. To cheer you up, we wish to inform that you are HIV negative as per reports sent to us. You can relax on that count. If you wish, you can have a PCR test for HIV done right away. Your other symptoms seem to be related to stress. Take out HIV infection from your mind and get yourself examined by a good physician to rule out any other disease. Our best wishes.