Possible exposure!! please help!!!!!

Hi doctor,

Please help. 2 weeks ago I had an encounter with a female of unknown status. I had a canker sore if my mouth but I was making out with her anyway. Then I had a pimple in my groin area but I had protected sex with her anyway. We have protected sex and oral sex that day. I’m hoping she was clean. But can someone get infected while having protected sex, like with HIV? The condom did not break and I was probably in her around 1-2 mins with a condom before I pulled out and came.

A week and a half later I went to have breakfast and I threw up. My stomach was hurting for a week and had to go to the bathroom but there was no diarrhea, then the following week I had a sore throat and had diarrhea for one day and then I took care of myself by drinking airborne and after one day no sore throat and feeling better.

Now I’m having jaw pain on one side of my mouth.

Does this sound like anything you heard of? I really hope I didn’t catch anything.

Anything you can provide would be very helpful.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Relax.  You describe a low risk sexual exposure.  Assuming you're in the US, the statistical likelihood your partner had HIV is around 0.1%, i.e. 1 in 1,000.  You had condom protected sex which provides virtually complete protection.  Oral exposure isn't a significant risk, regardless of canker sores; and a pimple in the groin doesn't increase the riisk either.  Finally, you describe no symptoms that suggest HIV or any other STD.

Based on both your symptoms and the level of risk you describe, you do not even need HIV testing.  But because you are nervous about HIV, you should be tested so that the negative result will calm your nerves.  Wait until about 6 weeks after the event then have an HIV test.  In the meantime, try to stop worrying.  If you have no other risks, the test will be negative.

Good luck--  HHH, MD

[bread43]

Hi doctor, thank you so much for your quick reply. I hope I can be more relaxed right now., But when you say the risk is still a low risk even with protected sex, what does that mean and how so?

thanks

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Lower than your chance of dying someday of a lightning strike (which is one chance in 81,000 if you live in the US).  I'll bet nobody in the entire US has acquired HIV through condom-proteced vaginal sex in the past 10 years, if the condom didn't break.  You're fine.  Let it go.

[plebhed]

Hi Bread. I'm going to copy and paste what I wrote in a similar thread;

The odds of contracting HIV from an unprotected vaginal experience with an infected person are about 1 in 2,000.
The odds with protection are so miniscule they don't even warrant thought. You should be more worried about cholesterol. (Which has a far more significant risk of killing you) You did the right thing by covering up. Every AIDS organisation in the world works tirelessly to promote the use of protection because it is so effective. If everyone used protection there wouldn't be a problem with this virus. You will be absolutely fine, but get tested if your anxiety gets the better of you. 4 weeks should do it. You can be guarenteed a negative result.

[bread43]

thank you all for all your help and advice. Very much appreciated!!!

[Americaneagle]

To add to what the doctor said. Free condom campaigns in Thailand during the mid 80's dropped the number of infected sex workers 90% in 10 years. If you could some how come up with numbers of how often people have sex with a sex worker in a given country over a  ten year period, it would warp the mind. But, it would show that even with millions of protected sex acts going on every year, the condom is vastly effective.