Could I get some advice

Hello,

I will be quick as I see you have a bunch of questions....here is my situation...

Had a faulty condom in the far east..not sure how long it was faulty during the act.  I have read this is equivilent to unprotected.  I ama male she was a female..we had sex a few time in the course of 2 weeks but every other time I checked the condom (I even checked it by filling it up with water!!..alittle strange I know!!)  but regardless only the 1 time issue..here is what has happened since..

1) She got tested 4 days after this event as I asked her to it was negative...she got tested with the Abbott determine HIV 1/2 antibody test...is this a good test?

2) I was tested for HIV 2,3,4,6 weeks post the "accident" all negative all rapid test back at home in canada.  Do you think this is enough??

3) As a young teenager we are always tought about HIV and it seems to be a scare tactic that has worked on me....This is the first time anything like this has happened with a casual partner so I got a little nervous...Is HIV that easy to get being a male from a female?? I ask you this because you seem to be a straight shooter where as alot of people are very conservative.

Thanks for you help

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to the Forum.  Before I address your questions and tell you why you do not have to worry about HIV following your condom "mishap", let me congratulate you on your commitment to safe sex and let you know that you have done everything correctly.  Condom protected sex is the right thing to do but, unfortunately, about 1% of the time, even when used correctly, condoms fail.  When they do, it is always upsetting.  

Asking your partner to get tested was also the right thing to do.  The fact that she was negative makes it very, very unlikely that she has HIV. While sometimes people worry that a partner with a negative test at the time of sex might be in the process of converting their test to positive, this is extraordinarily rare.  You can have confidence that your partner did not have HIV an you cannot get HIV from someone who does not have HIV.

In answer to your specific questions:
1.  This is a good test.  Be confident that she did not have HIV.
2.  You have tested enough.  At 6 weeks the tests you had would have picked up well over 95% of infections acquired 6 weeks before.  This too proves you do not have HIV.  I see no need for further testing.
3.  I think the scare tactics are not a good thing.  HIV is transmitted through unprotected vaginal intercourse about once in every 1000 exposures an most people do not have HIV.  Thus, realistically, when something like this happens, you should do the sorts of things you did to be sure that you did not get HIV but to worry a lot about this is not useful.  At the same time, because HIV (and other STDs are "out there", I do encourage you to continue to use condoms for your own safety.

Finally, one other suggestion.  There is no need to test condoms with water after use.  When condoms break, they break wide open. They do not leak "just a little.". Thus there is no need to test with water. When a condom breaks, you will know it.

I hope these comments are helpful to you.  EWH