Infection fear

[bah123]

Nine days ago I had sex twice with a girl I met in a club in Dubai.  The first time I performed oral sex on her then had protected sex.  She then asked me to have sex again and about 30 minutes later I had unprotected sex.  I met her 5 days later for protected sex twice.  Since four days (so approx 5 days after the unprotected sex episode) i have been suffering from fever, sore throat, a couple of spots on my face (though dont think connected) and a little muscle pain - though my sore throat has improved.  I have been drinking alot over the last week (now stopped) and i also swam in the dead sea so maybe could have got an infection from that.  
However I now know she is a sex worker from Uzbekistan - she says that she has been in dubai for 5 months but not sure if she is telling the truth.  What are my chances of infection and given my symptoms should i take some medication now to prevent hiv.  I am back in the UK and am worried of course.  This is the only unprotected/ unsafe sex episode in my life (most probably due to the influence of alcohol) and so know my only chance of hiv is through this one episode.  Also my fear is exacerbated by the fact that I have felt unwell five days after the event.  Many thanks for all advice

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

That's generally true.  I have never heard of anyone with ARS who had only one symptom.

[AloneInhere]

I heard symptoms always comes in package? like fever, flue and skin rash... is this true?

[bah123]

Thanks Dr H - yes I had vaginal sex but am uncircumsised so chance could be 1 in 1000.  I cant figure out what the likelihood of someone from that part of the world (uzbekistan and dubai) have of having HIV and so was wandering under what circumstances it makes sense to take the one month post exposure prophylaxis?  Even with side effects if it further reduces chances why not take it?

Also I was introduced to this site through a friend who worried excessively (obsessively) about HIV even when he had no chance and would not listen to reason.  I ended up taking him for an HIV test and had one myself a few months ago - both negative.  But now I fully appreciate what fear can do and so please always use a condom even if the chance appears to be "close to zero"....it aint worth the worry.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

The second sentence of my reply is supposed to say "HIV cannot cause any symtoms before around 10-14 days...."

[worriedandconfused35]

Hi mate, you wont get a HIV test at a GUM clinic in the UK untill after 3 months, they say that its not worth it as antibodies take up to 3 months to show up
All the Best

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

You caught a cold or something else that is causing your fever and sore throat, but not HIV.  HIV cannot cause fever before around 10-14 days after infection.  Maybe you caught a garden-variety cold virus from your sex partner.  Further, most likely she wasn't infected with HIV, but even if she was, the odds of HIV transmission average 1 in 2,000 episodes of unprotected vaginal sex.

See your health care provider if you remain concerned, and if you remain nervous you can have HIV testing 4-6 weeks after the event. But the chance you have HIV is almost zero.

Good luck--  HHH, MD