30 days after sexual contact, concerened I might be have Acute HIV

Hello Dr.H

I'm a 24 yr old male. On 11/15/06, I had insertive vaginal sex for the very first time with a young lady.

Before intercourse I put on a condom but stupidly only rolled it up about 60% on my penis instead of all the way. We proceeded to have sex for about 15 min, then we finished with her taking off the condom & giving me oral sex until ejaculation.

After sex we discussed her sexual history & she informed me that she had been sexually active for the past year & has had 4 sexual partners, the first 3 were here boyfriends & the 4th (as well as most recent) was a male co-worker whom she had sex with 2 weeks before our encounter.

About 2 weeks later, I noticed the skin color on the head of my penis get a little red/purple, as well as a few small painless bumps appear, & I had a swollen neck lymphnode, concerned I might have an STD I went to go get tested on 12/08/06.

At the clinic they took a urine sample & drew blood from my arm, I spoke with a doctor & she took a look at my genitals & said the bumps & my penis looked normal & that it was probably nothing.

Then this last Thursday (12/16/06) I woke up early in the morning  & I felt like I had the flu, I had excessive watery diarrhea, my neck lymphnodes were swollen, I was dizzy, I felt neuaseated, there was a slight pressure in my throat when I swallow, I had a fever, & my lower back muscles were sore

On Friday the diarrhea continued, my lymphnodes were still tender, had the lump in my throat, & I still felt dizzy from time to time, but all other symptoms appeared to have disspeared.

On Saturday the diarrhea stopped, & my lymphnodes calmed down, but then I developed a cough, & in the evening I felt like I was bloated & had stabbing pains in my upper abdomen, 2 points of pressure underneath my ribs, & one in the bottom middle of my chest

From Sunday till today I still have the cough, but I only cough in the morning or when it's cold. I still expereince the lump in my throat, & the stabbing pains, but they come & go, & most of the time they arent that severe, & the stabbing pains occour in one place at a time instead of 3 places & go away after a few hours

My penis still looks the same from when I got tested, & I havent expereinced any pain or discomfort, also I'm still awaiting the results on my blood test/HIV results, but I am concrened that I had exeperienced Acute HIV symptoms since I got ill practically 30 days to the date after sex, & apparently those flu-like symptoms can last from 2-14 days.

I am also concerned how accurate/reliable my test results would be since they were taken 24 days after sex, & I didnt have any real symptoms at the time. And if they aren't reliable, how long must I wait to re-take an HIV test before they become conclusive.

My final concern is since the condom was not rolled up completely, & I had unprotected ooral sex, I might have put myself at a greater risk of contracting HIV assuming this young lady is HIV+

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Relax.  You clearly have an inaccurate understanding of the risks of HIV through heterosexual exposure and about how common HIV is in women.  Assuming your partner isn't an injection drug user or the long-time partner of an HIV infected man, the chance she has HIV is extremely low.  If she has it, the chance you would catch it from a single episode of vaginal sex is 1 in 1000, and that's without a condom.  With a condom (regardless of "only" 60% coverage), the chance is basically zero.  And nobody eer has been known to catch HIV by performing cunnilingus.

For these reasons, your symptoms cannot be due to HIV.  You can take that as solid fact.  Some of your symptoms are compatible with early HIV infection, but the symptoms of HIV are the same as those of a hundred other conditions, all much more common than HIV.  Most of your symptoms don't sound like HIV anyway, and they came on too late; 30 days is too long for acute HIV, which generally starts 10-20 days after infection.  On top of that, a health care provider examined you and reassured you.  And on top of all THAT, a negative HIV test 24 days after infection is highly reliable evidence against HIV.

Trust your doctor and continue to follow her advice.  You can forget about HIV.

Good luck-- HHH, MD

[HHH,MD]

I meant to also say that nobody has been proved to get HIV by receiving oral sex.

HHH, MD

[Am_I_Simply_Making_Myself_Sick]

I thought the statistics on single incident insertive vaginal was 1 in 2000.  I thought 1 in 1000 was receptive vaginal?

[peekawho]

*looks up the definition of "splitting hairs"*

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Splitting hairs indeed.  They're also very general approximations and the actual risks vary all over the map.

Do not respond; we're not going to discuss it.

[GirlyGurlMommy]

Your chances are extremly slim. As far as everything I have ever read or saw..You cannot get HIV from oral encounters.

A condom was used, therefore fluids could not be exchanged. Take a deep breath and relax. You probably just have the flu. Like many of us.