Dear Dr. Jose;
Please help me clarify the degree of risk in this situation:
Would fingering by an hiv+person with an open cut that is fresh and actively bleeding represent an equally risky situation as unprotected intercourse to “ the fingeree”?
Please correct me if I am wrong, but my reasoning is that it would be equally as risky because blood has a higher concentration of viral load (than semen) and fingering provides direct access of infected blood to the mucous membrane/wall lining of the vagina.
Additionally, aggressive fingering can tear the wall lining exposing the virus directly into the blood stream. Wouldn’t this lead to an infection just as likely as contact with ejaculation?
While I know that there have not been any known/reported cases of hiv transmission from fingering, I am still not convinced that fingering is low risk if blood is indeed present.
The reason that I am concerned is because I developed ARS (fever,rash, oral thrush, fatigue,swollen neck lymph nodes) 2-4 weeks after this type of exposure and the infectous diseases doctor recommended a 6 month follow up test after the exposure.