Fever, Adenopathy, Thrush, and a Negative HIV Antibody Test

A 21-year-old male presented with a 1-month history of fever, diarrhea, fatigue, sore throat, mouth lesions, lymphadenopathy, and a 9-kg weight loss. His medical history was remarkable for peptic ulcer disease, urinary tract infections, recent 5-month history of asthma, and pericarditis 4 months earlier. He had two suicide attempts, one of which was prompted by turmoils about his homosexuality, a history of polysubstance abuse, including intravenous drugs, and unsafe sex practices. Initial HIV-1 antibody by ELISA, HIV-1 antigen test, and HIV-1 culture were all negative, as were the urinalysis and serologies for hepatitis B and C. Four months later HIV-1 antigen test was still negative, but ELISA and Western blot test were positive, and his CD4 count was dropping. This case was consistent with severe primary HIV disease, with negative HIV antibody test due to the recent exposure to the virus; seroconversion took approximately 5 months.