Welcome to the forum.
We get lots of questions from people exposed to commercial sex workers in Dubai. Therefore, I have communicated with the director of the main STD clinic there (Zack Medical Clinic; you can look it up on line). There has never been a known case of HIV transmission from a Dubai sex worker to a client. Further, people rarely lie about HIV status when asked directly -- so you can be quite confident your CSW partner was not infected. To your specific questions:
1) The risk of HIV is probably zero. It might be higher for other STDs. If in doubt, visit Zack for confidential, highly expert care.
2) Follow the advice from the clinic, but probably HIV tesing is unnecessary.
3) I cannot judge the likelihood of other STDs from Dubai CSWs. The clinic can help. Most likely you are not at high risk.
4) I do not recommend PEP in this cirucmsntace.
5) From an HIV standpoint, unprotected sex with your wife should be safe. As for other STDs, that's more difficult to predict -- as I said above. Visit the clinic and follow their advice about it.
Regards-- HHH, MD
Hi Doctor HH,
Many thanks for the reply. I actually felt a lot better and confident after reading your answer in the morning. But a visit to ZMC in the afternoon completely dented my confidence and I am again scared to death. Following are the highlights of my conversation.
1/ The doc mentioned that I fall in the high risk category and that one exposure is enough for hiv transmission. In fact when I asked him if he has come accross anybody who contracted HIV through a single exposure he said yes. He asked me to get tested after 7days.
2/ For other STDs, he said start looking out for symptoms in about 2/3 days and if they appear, then immediately start treatment.
3/ However he advised against PEP as the exact status of my csw partner is not known. I dont have her number so that I can call her and take her to a testing centre.
4/ He advised me to abstain from sex with my wife till the time I dont test negative in 7 days
Now after reading the forum, I was optimistic but I have again started worrying. I know asking the same questions again is stupid but I just cant help it. Anxiety is eating me.
Dr HH, would you like to comment on my conversation with the doctor. I just cant bear the tension.
Many thanks in advance.
Hi Doctor HH,
Many thanks for the reply. I actually felt a lot better and confident after reading your answer in the morning. But a visit to ZMC in the afternoon completely dented my confidence and I am again scared to death. Following are the highlights of my conversation.
1/ The doc mentioned that I fall in the high risk category and that one exposure is enough for hiv transmission. In fact when I asked him if he has come accross anybody who contracted HIV through a single exposure he said yes. This scared me to hell. He asked me to get tested after 7days. The test is expensive at $250 but I will do it anyways
2/ For other STDs, he said start looking out for symptoms in about 2/3 days and if they appear, then immediately start treatment.
3/ However he advised against PEP as the exact status of my csw partner is not known. I dont have her number so that I can call her and take her to a testing centre.
4/ He advised me to abstain from unprotected sex with my wife (from the HIV standpoint) till the time I dont test negative in 7 days
Now after reading the forum, I was optimistic but I have again started worrying. I know asking the same questions again is stupid but I just cant help it. Anxiety is eating me.
Dr HH, would you like to comment on my conversation with the doctor. I just cant bear the tension.
Many thanks in advance.