Aa
I give up
If the following circumstances have any risk of HIV infection, than there is no such thing as safe sex.
a.Last week I had sex with an ex girlfriend who I lived with for some time. b. I used a condom. However, I may have had a small open pimple near the base of my penis, which may not have been covered with the condom. c.She performed unprotected oral sex on me for maybe twenty seconds. I didn't see blood but she had brushed her teeth just before I came over. So there is the possibility she may have had a slight amount in her mouth. If so it was not a lot. d. We masturbated each other. She touched her vagina and masturbated me so I guess it is possible her wetness was on her hand that touched my penis including my urethra. I didn’t notice any cuts on my hands but who knows. e. Lastly, she had the Oraquick advance oral swab HIV 1 & 2 test 49 days (7 weeks) from her last possible exposure, which according to her involved protected intercourse and no oral. She has Crohn's disease and has remicade infusions once a month. I don't know how soon her last one was before the test.
My first question is whether the 7 week oral swab test is conclusive. Did her remicade infusions delay the production of antibodies so that her seven week test is not conclusive? Some websites say 7 weeks is conclusive some say three months. Some say remicad does delay the window period some say no. All of this is so confusing and causes considerable anxiety for many of us who want to be safe with our activities.
Second did any of our activities put me at risk? Did the possible open pimple cause me to have unsafe sex, or did possible blood in her mouth make my oral sex unsafe and did wetness on her hand that touched my penis blow this whole supposed mutual masturbation safe sex out of the water. Because if one says there is a slight risk overall, the notion of safe sex is a joke. Any sexual encounter at a minimum involves the above conditions even if the intercourse is with a condom.
a.Last week I had sex with an ex girlfriend who I lived with for some time. b. I used a condom. However, I may have had a small open pimple near the base of my penis, which may not have been covered with the condom. c.She performed unprotected oral sex on me for maybe twenty seconds. I didn't see blood but she had brushed her teeth just before I came over. So there is the possibility she may have had a slight amount in her mouth. If so it was not a lot. d. We masturbated each other. She touched her vagina and masturbated me so I guess it is possible her wetness was on her hand that touched my penis including my urethra. I didn’t notice any cuts on my hands but who knows. e. Lastly, she had the Oraquick advance oral swab HIV 1 & 2 test 49 days (7 weeks) from her last possible exposure, which according to her involved protected intercourse and no oral. She has Crohn's disease and has remicade infusions once a month. I don't know how soon her last one was before the test.
My first question is whether the 7 week oral swab test is conclusive. Did her remicade infusions delay the production of antibodies so that her seven week test is not conclusive? Some websites say 7 weeks is conclusive some say three months. Some say remicad does delay the window period some say no. All of this is so confusing and causes considerable anxiety for many of us who want to be safe with our activities.
Second did any of our activities put me at risk? Did the possible open pimple cause me to have unsafe sex, or did possible blood in her mouth make my oral sex unsafe and did wetness on her hand that touched my penis blow this whole supposed mutual masturbation safe sex out of the water. Because if one says there is a slight risk overall, the notion of safe sex is a joke. Any sexual encounter at a minimum involves the above conditions even if the intercourse is with a condom.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum and thanks for your question.
There are no medications known to interfere with reliability of the HIV antibody tests or delay a positive result, with the theoretical exceptions of potent chemotherapy or immunosuppressive drugs -- and even these are theoretical, with few if any actual reported cases of delayed results. Remicade is a narrow, selective immunosuppressive drug which, based on its mechanism of action, should not interfere with antibody production. As for time to positve results, with the modern test technologies --- including that used in the rapid oral fluids tests -- it very rarely, if ever, requires more than 6 weeks for positive results, so the 7 week result should be reliable. FYI, here is a thread in which I discuss the reasons why official advice usually remains 3 months even though the tests generally are reliable at earlier intervals: http://www.medhelp.org/posts/HIV-Prevention/-A-Question-on-Testing/show/1347755
As to the exposures you describe, in a way this information isn't relevant. Combining your partner's sexual history (which does not suggest particularly high risk for HIV) plus her negative test result, can be very confident she doesn't have HIV. Thus even the riskiest sexual activities would not have carried little or no actual risk. But even there, of course I cannot guarantee your partner was being truthful about her testing history, or that she hadn't actually had an exposure that infected her a couple weeks before your contact with her.
As for safe sex being "a joke" if protection isn't 100%, that's ridiculous. We don't demand 100% effectiveness for any safety device or strategy. People die despite wearing seat belts. Safe sex is not all or nothing and different practices carry different risks. But it remains true that new HIV infections are extraordinarily rare in people who consistently use condoms for vaginal or anal penetration in nonmonogamous encounters, and in those whose only exposures are oral sex. Nobody is known to have caught HIV in the ways your questions suggest, i.e. through exposure of a pimple or a skin cut in the pubic area, by mutual masturbation, or though microscopic condom leaks.
Still, it is impossible to prove a negative. I can't "prove" the sun will rise tomorrow and I cannot tell you that you will be at zero risk for HIV if you consistently use condoms and select your partners with care. If you indeed need a 100% guarantee against sexual acquisition of HIV, you'll have to plan on celibacy unless and until your forge a permanent, mutually monogamous relationship with a person you know to be uninfected.
I hope this helps. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
There are no medications known to interfere with reliability of the HIV antibody tests or delay a positive result, with the theoretical exceptions of potent chemotherapy or immunosuppressive drugs -- and even these are theoretical, with few if any actual reported cases of delayed results. Remicade is a narrow, selective immunosuppressive drug which, based on its mechanism of action, should not interfere with antibody production. As for time to positve results, with the modern test technologies --- including that used in the rapid oral fluids tests -- it very rarely, if ever, requires more than 6 weeks for positive results, so the 7 week result should be reliable. FYI, here is a thread in which I discuss the reasons why official advice usually remains 3 months even though the tests generally are reliable at earlier intervals: http://www.medhelp.org/posts/HIV-Prevention/-A-Question-on-Testing/show/1347755
As to the exposures you describe, in a way this information isn't relevant. Combining your partner's sexual history (which does not suggest particularly high risk for HIV) plus her negative test result, can be very confident she doesn't have HIV. Thus even the riskiest sexual activities would not have carried little or no actual risk. But even there, of course I cannot guarantee your partner was being truthful about her testing history, or that she hadn't actually had an exposure that infected her a couple weeks before your contact with her.
As for safe sex being "a joke" if protection isn't 100%, that's ridiculous. We don't demand 100% effectiveness for any safety device or strategy. People die despite wearing seat belts. Safe sex is not all or nothing and different practices carry different risks. But it remains true that new HIV infections are extraordinarily rare in people who consistently use condoms for vaginal or anal penetration in nonmonogamous encounters, and in those whose only exposures are oral sex. Nobody is known to have caught HIV in the ways your questions suggest, i.e. through exposure of a pimple or a skin cut in the pubic area, by mutual masturbation, or though microscopic condom leaks.
Still, it is impossible to prove a negative. I can't "prove" the sun will rise tomorrow and I cannot tell you that you will be at zero risk for HIV if you consistently use condoms and select your partners with care. If you indeed need a 100% guarantee against sexual acquisition of HIV, you'll have to plan on celibacy unless and until your forge a permanent, mutually monogamous relationship with a person you know to be uninfected.
I hope this helps. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
The PCR tests are not intended for diagnosis of new HIV infection; their primary use is to monitor viral load (the amount of virus in the blood) of people known to be infected.
For the HIV-1 PCR test, almost all newly infected persons would have positive results within about 10 days, and the test then would usually remain positive for life, unless on very successful anti-HIV therapy. I assume the same is true for HIV-2 PCR testing, but I have no personal experience with it. (The need has never arisen in my professional experience.)
That will wind up this thread. I'm out of comments or advice for you.
For the HIV-1 PCR test, almost all newly infected persons would have positive results within about 10 days, and the test then would usually remain positive for life, unless on very successful anti-HIV therapy. I assume the same is true for HIV-2 PCR testing, but I have no personal experience with it. (The need has never arisen in my professional experience.)
That will wind up this thread. I'm out of comments or advice for you.
I'm curious. I talked to someone about two tests his clinic recommended. They are the HIV-1 RNA, Qualitative TMA and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus 2 (HIV-2), Qualitative, PCR test. How soon after exposure can these tests be used and how reliable are they. When is the best time to have thses tests after exposure. .
Okay thanks You guys are doing a wonderful service for all of us OCD HIV paranois and the few sane people--not me I admit--who submit questions.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Apparently you didn't yet read the discussion in the other thread. The result is probably 100% conclusive all by itself. Combining the statistically low risk a partner like yours had HIV (assuming her sexual history is accurate) plus her test result, the chance she had HIV is probably under 1 in a billion.
I'm sorry to have sounded a bit cynical but the information on credible websites can be so confounding. I do have one last follow up. Is the 7 week test merely reliable or can I consider it conclusive?
You are reading content posted in the HIV - Prevention Forum
Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV and STDs.
PrEP is used by people with high risk to prevent HIV infection.
Can I get HIV from surfaces, like toilet seats?
Can you get HIV from casual contact, like hugging?
Frequency of HIV testing depends on your risk.
Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) may help prevent HIV infection.
