Swollen Lymh Nodes after travelling, HIV?

Dear Ask The Doctor: Dear DR I stay in Zimbabwe and have a female South African friend who stays in Durban. I flew there in May and stayed for a week in a hotel. We got involved for just one. During the process, the condom broke and she felt it in less than a minute. I pulled out, went to the bathroom, thoroughly wash, wore another one and continued. We also kissed a lot before the sex. A day before my returning to Zim, i caught a terrible flue, my throat was burning as if i have a sandpaper on my throat and twas very sore to swallow saliva. I bought Benilyn 4 Flu. Thats only the medication i got. The flu lasted for a week but fatigue took me for a month. I never stopped from going to work though. The lymph nodes at the left of my neck swelled to the size of a peanut and were a bit painful. Sometimes i could feel pain just below my ear but could not feel the lymph node there. i read that the swollen lymph nodes should go away after about three months but my worry is that even they are not painful anymore, i still can feel the two peas on my left neck. Before this incident, my last sexual encounter was on the 22nd of February and due to my long plays, again the condom broke and discovered it instantly and washed thoroughly again Could i be HIV positive, am soo afraid of this if it be reality. Im praying for guts but cant find them to go testing Please help Grinder

Dear Grinder: The symptoms of sore throat and swollen lymphnodes may be due to a flu, though HIV may also present with similar symptoms. The HIV antibody Test detects antibodies to the virus in your blood. For most of the people these antibodies take 6 weeks to 3 months to develop, sometimes, in very rare cases, may take up to 6 months. For this reason, getting tested before 3 months have passed may result in an unclear test result, as the infected person may not yet have developed antibodies to HIV. These 3 – 6 months are known as the 'window period'. I recommend you to wait for at least 3 months after the last sexual act before getting tested for HIV.