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HIV Prevention (Expert Forum)
Have I got HIV from unprotected insertive sex with a man?
Answered by
University of Washington
Seattle - WA
This forum is limited to prevention of HIV and to safe sex in general. If you believe you might have been exposed to HIV and want help to judge your risk, would like advice about HIV testing, or have questions about the effectiveness of condoms or the risks associated with specific sexual practices, this is the site for you.
IMPORTANT
No questions will be accepted on the treatment of HIV/AIDS or its complications, viral load, and similar topics. If you have questions about a specific STD other than HIV/AIDS, please visit the STD Forum. Questions that do not pertain to the above topics will be removed from the forum.
If you have not done so, please review other threads in our archives for questions similar to yours and Dr. Handsfield's replies. Questions that duplicate other frequent ones, for which abundant replies exist, and that have little educational value for other forum users, will be DELETED WITHOUT RESPONSE. YOUR PAYMENT WILL NOT BE REFUNDED. The most common examples of such questions are those about low risk exposures to HIV, such as oral sex, condom- protected intercourse hand-to-genital exposure, and nonsexual contact with possibly infected blood or body fluids as well as symptoms of early HIV infection.
No questions will be accepted on the treatment of HIV/AIDS or its complications, viral load, and similar topics. If you have questions about a specific STD other than HIV/AIDS, please visit the STD Forum. Questions that do not pertain to the above topics will be removed from the forum.
If you have not done so, please review other threads in our archives for questions similar to yours and Dr. Handsfield's replies. Questions that duplicate other frequent ones, for which abundant replies exist, and that have little educational value for other forum users, will be DELETED WITHOUT RESPONSE. YOUR PAYMENT WILL NOT BE REFUNDED. The most common examples of such questions are those about low risk exposures to HIV, such as oral sex, condom- protected intercourse hand-to-genital exposure, and nonsexual contact with possibly infected blood or body fluids as well as symptoms of early HIV infection.
Have I got HIV from unprotected insertive sex with a man?
by Worried Of Birmingham, Nov 06, 2006 12:00AM
Hi,
I've been worried for some time now about a sexual encounter that I had a while ago in London.
Facts:
1. I am a 30 year old man and performed insertive anal sex on another man, who I think was hispanic. I have no idea whether he was HIV positive.
2. The anal sex lasted for no more than 2-3 minutes.
3. I did *** inside him
4. I did not see any blood.
5. The sex was not hard, i.e. he was well lubricated, and I noticed nothing on my penis afterwards.
6. There had been no fisting, etc.
7. There were no sores (or the like) on my penis before or afterwards.
8. I am not aware that I had any other STDs at the time.
Questions:
1. What are the chances that I have have caught HIV from this encounter?
2. 6.5 weeks after the encounter, I was diagnosed by my doctor as having tonsillitis. I had experienced the symptoms - sore throat, white spots on the tonsils, swollen glands - a couple of days previously. I had no other symptons generally associated with ARS, e.g. flu, fever, temperature, rash, fatigue, nausea, vomiting. Given the timescale after possible infection and given the nature of the symptoms, how likely is it that this is ARS? I did have a lot of other things going on at the time, and I should note that he prescribed me with antibiotics which cleared the infection up within a few days.
I am very worried, and am concerned that if I have got the infection then I may have passed it on to my wife, who I have regular unprotected sex with. What are the chances of me having passed it on to her. There have been instances of me cumming inside her, and also when she has been menstruating.
Thanks for your help.
I've been worried for some time now about a sexual encounter that I had a while ago in London.
Facts:
1. I am a 30 year old man and performed insertive anal sex on another man, who I think was hispanic. I have no idea whether he was HIV positive.
2. The anal sex lasted for no more than 2-3 minutes.
3. I did *** inside him
4. I did not see any blood.
5. The sex was not hard, i.e. he was well lubricated, and I noticed nothing on my penis afterwards.
6. There had been no fisting, etc.
7. There were no sores (or the like) on my penis before or afterwards.
8. I am not aware that I had any other STDs at the time.
Questions:
1. What are the chances that I have have caught HIV from this encounter?
2. 6.5 weeks after the encounter, I was diagnosed by my doctor as having tonsillitis. I had experienced the symptoms - sore throat, white spots on the tonsils, swollen glands - a couple of days previously. I had no other symptons generally associated with ARS, e.g. flu, fever, temperature, rash, fatigue, nausea, vomiting. Given the timescale after possible infection and given the nature of the symptoms, how likely is it that this is ARS? I did have a lot of other things going on at the time, and I should note that he prescribed me with antibiotics which cleared the infection up within a few days.
I am very worried, and am concerned that if I have got the infection then I may have passed it on to my wife, who I have regular unprotected sex with. What are the chances of me having passed it on to her. There have been instances of me cumming inside her, and also when she has been menstruating.
Thanks for your help.
Doctor's Answer
by H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D., Nov 06, 2006 12:00AM
, Nov 06, 2006 12:00AM
The main lesson is that it was dumb to have sex with the guy without asking your partner his HIV status and sharing your own. That is the single most important element of safe sex for gay/bi men. In my opinion, there should never be sex between two guys without discussion of HIV status. No exceptions. This applies even when safe sex is planned, because intentions for safety often disappear in the heat of the moment, especially if drugs or alcohol are involved.
The general estimate is that the risk of getting HIV from a single episode of insertive anal sex with an HIV infected man is somewhere around 1 in 500. There are no data on which to estimate whether that number is changed by such things as vigor or duration of sex, quality of lubrication, intra-rectal ejaculation, etc.
Symptoms never are a reliable indicator of new HIV infection, because the identical symptoms are caused by many other things that are more common than HIV--including viral or streptococcal pharyngitis, which are the better bet for your syptoms. But the only way to know for sure is to have an HIV test. All else is secondary. Return to your provider, be honest with him/her about your HIV risks, and have an HIV test. Most likely it will be negative.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
The general estimate is that the risk of getting HIV from a single episode of insertive anal sex with an HIV infected man is somewhere around 1 in 500. There are no data on which to estimate whether that number is changed by such things as vigor or duration of sex, quality of lubrication, intra-rectal ejaculation, etc.
Symptoms never are a reliable indicator of new HIV infection, because the identical symptoms are caused by many other things that are more common than HIV--including viral or streptococcal pharyngitis, which are the better bet for your syptoms. But the only way to know for sure is to have an HIV test. All else is secondary. Return to your provider, be honest with him/her about your HIV risks, and have an HIV test. Most likely it will be negative.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
But you should know that there is NO WAY you could possibly have HIV with a negative test at 3 months (let alone after 18 weeks).
Read the post immediately after yours entitled "Protected Sex Many Times with Different Prostitutes" posted 11/06/06 by forum user angstconcern, and please do read my response at the bottom. I only say that because I referred that forum user to some other threads on this site regarding what Doc H has already said regarding testing windows times. You could alternatively, type in "time to test positive HIV" and read the posts there.
You don't need testing beyond the 6-8 week window.
Good luck
-WorriedUS
J
To put it another way: Gay/bi men who do not follow my advice to routinely ask partners about HIV have a high risk of catching HIV in the long run (of course, also depending on adherance to other safe sex practices). But among heterosexual men and women, asking about HIV status probably has little influence on the long-term risk of transmission.
HHH, MD
Application of rules for "asking the partner's HIV status" should be applied to both homosexuals as well as heterosexuals. I hope that you did not mean any disdain in your "pointing of fingers" at the homosexual crowd is no different than that of a heterosexual writing this main thread, but I would have felt ashamed based on your initial response at the onset of your original message stated above.
I do know that you may rationalize that homosexuals have a higher risk factors regarding HIV contraction of the disease, but equality is necessary for justice when messages are written to a homosexual and/or heterosexual person asking a question.
Again, I am curious to your rebuttal on this matter.
B.