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Please assess my risk
Hi Dr:
Here is my situation in detail. About 4 weeks ago (26days to be exact) I had brief encounter with two sex workers in canada on the same day. Both unrelated. Condom was used for brief vaginal sex. After the incidents i really started worrying about it. It was my first experience and I never had this before. After the sex, I pulled out the condom and washed and left. Now I keep thinking that I did not check the condom. I was expecting that condom would be intact. There was no oral involved only fingering. Stress and guilt keeps bringing different questions in my mind. What if the condom had broken or was not good quality or had holes etc. i have been having extreme stress in last 4 weeks. One of the lady was chinese migrant and spoke little english. she told me that she has been here for only 3 weeks. I asked both of them about their status on hiv etc. One told me that she gets tested regularly but the chinese one did not speak much. Here are my questions;
1. if i visited you after this incident what would you recommend? What is my risk and do i need testing.
2. does it make any difference if one was chinese migrant. Is hiv common in china. She had a tattoo in her back.
3. i had some yeast infection a couple of weeks after the incident. Could it be sign of any std or hiv.
please advise. Thanks a lot
Here is my situation in detail. About 4 weeks ago (26days to be exact) I had brief encounter with two sex workers in canada on the same day. Both unrelated. Condom was used for brief vaginal sex. After the incidents i really started worrying about it. It was my first experience and I never had this before. After the sex, I pulled out the condom and washed and left. Now I keep thinking that I did not check the condom. I was expecting that condom would be intact. There was no oral involved only fingering. Stress and guilt keeps bringing different questions in my mind. What if the condom had broken or was not good quality or had holes etc. i have been having extreme stress in last 4 weeks. One of the lady was chinese migrant and spoke little english. she told me that she has been here for only 3 weeks. I asked both of them about their status on hiv etc. One told me that she gets tested regularly but the chinese one did not speak much. Here are my questions;
1. if i visited you after this incident what would you recommend? What is my risk and do i need testing.
2. does it make any difference if one was chinese migrant. Is hiv common in china. She had a tattoo in her back.
3. i had some yeast infection a couple of weeks after the incident. Could it be sign of any std or hiv.
please advise. Thanks a lot
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Either your GP is unfamiliar with HIV transmission risks and doesn't know what he is talking about, or you misunderstood. I stand by my opinion and advice.
By the way, in the 7+ years this forum has been operating (about 15,000 questions), there has not been a single case of someone catching HIV from an exposure that concerned them. If and when it happens, you can be sure it will be someone with a real risk, like anonymous sex between men, the regular partner of an infected person, etc. It certainly will not be a virtually zero risk exposure of the sort you had.
Accept the reassurance you came here for, or not, I don't care. But this isn't a debate. You may still post your test result when it is available. But any other anxiety-driven comments before then will be deleted without reply.
By the way, in the 7+ years this forum has been operating (about 15,000 questions), there has not been a single case of someone catching HIV from an exposure that concerned them. If and when it happens, you can be sure it will be someone with a real risk, like anonymous sex between men, the regular partner of an infected person, etc. It certainly will not be a virtually zero risk exposure of the sort you had.
Accept the reassurance you came here for, or not, I don't care. But this isn't a debate. You may still post your test result when it is available. But any other anxiety-driven comments before then will be deleted without reply.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Glad you saw the doc. Not so bad, was it? If he is a decent sort, he was probably mellow, reassuring, and not critical. I hope so.
Serology is just a fancy word for a test for antibodies, i.e. the standard HIV blood test. Once the specimen hits the lab, it take only a few hours to have a result. Any time beyond a day or so is taken up by specimen transport, potential delays until the lab has sufficient specimens to run a bunch at once, and communication of results to the doctor's office. Usually it takes 2-5 workdays.
Feel free to let me the results, which for sure will be negative. Stay mellow while you wait.
Serology is just a fancy word for a test for antibodies, i.e. the standard HIV blood test. Once the specimen hits the lab, it take only a few hours to have a result. Any time beyond a day or so is taken up by specimen transport, potential delays until the lab has sufficient specimens to run a bunch at once, and communication of results to the doctor's office. Usually it takes 2-5 workdays.
Feel free to let me the results, which for sure will be negative. Stay mellow while you wait.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Sorry, I was mixing up this thread with another question I had just answered, which involved someone with earlier STD/HIV testing. But still, given the nature of the exposure -- with condom protecdtion, etc -- formal evaluation and testing are optional. But keep your appointment, because I expect your examination and test result to be negative and therefore reassuring.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Stress doesn't cause yeast. You might have just had a little physical irritation, but maybe it was really a yeast infection -- I can't say from this distance. In any case, it's clearing up and has no bearing on your concerns about HIV, so I wouldn't worry about it.
Most STD symptoms (discharge of pus or mucus from the penis, penile sores or blisters) appear within 1-2 weeks. 26 days is possible but unusual. But again, your penis was covered by condoms, so really no worries about it.
Next time you see a doctor for similar (or any other) condition, please give the full story. Trust me, your doc has seen it all before; there was no need for embarrassment. Not giving him your sexual history essentially tied his hands in proper evaluation. Probably no harm done this time, but don't make the same mistake again. Or if you're just too embarrassed, you can always visit a public health STD clinic.
Most STD symptoms (discharge of pus or mucus from the penis, penile sores or blisters) appear within 1-2 weeks. 26 days is possible but unusual. But again, your penis was covered by condoms, so really no worries about it.
Next time you see a doctor for similar (or any other) condition, please give the full story. Trust me, your doc has seen it all before; there was no need for embarrassment. Not giving him your sexual history essentially tied his hands in proper evaluation. Probably no harm done this time, but don't make the same mistake again. Or if you're just too embarrassed, you can always visit a public health STD clinic.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear you are so anxious about your very first sexual encounters.
Like many young people these days, you seem to have acquired inflated notions about HIV/STD risks, perhaps from biased school-based education or inflammatory stories in the media. In fact, heterosexually acquired HIV remains very rare in the US and Canada, except in special circumstances and risks. The large majority of hetersexually acquired infections are in injection drug users who share needles and the regular sex partner of infected persons, often only after several years of unprotected sex. That's because the average transmission risk through unprotected vaginal sex, if one partner has HIV, is around 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 2,000. Even among most commercial sex workers, HIV is rare; the chance either of your partners was infected certainly is under 1% and perhaps under 1 in 1,000. And in your case, you can be quite sure at least one of your partners doesn't have it; most people don't lie about their HIV status when asked directly.
Equally important, condoms work. Whatever small risk might have existed was almost entirely mitigated by your wise decision to use condoms for vaginal sex. If the condoms did not obvious break wide open, than protection is complete. The problem with condoms of "not good quality" is that they break more easily; there is no such thing as microscopic leaks that allow HIV transmission.
With those remarks as the basis, here are my responses to your specific questions:
1) Both in person and now, I recommend that you do not be tested for HIV or other STDs. There simply is no need. However, if you remain anxious about it despite the scientific evidence I have given and my strong, reasoned reassurance, you can always be tested anyway if it will help reduce your fears. But you also need to understand that it is unreasonable to expect that you're going to be tested every time you have sex with a new partner.
2) Her geographic origin makes no difference in my opinion or advice. HIV is relatively uncommon in China.
3) What is the evidence you had a "yeast infection"? What symptoms? Professionally diagnosed? Even if a confirmed yeast infection, however, it would not change my opinion or advice. Some yeast infections are more common in chronic HIV or overt AIDS, i.e. in people infected for many years, but they are not evidence of new HIV infections.
I hope this helps. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
Like many young people these days, you seem to have acquired inflated notions about HIV/STD risks, perhaps from biased school-based education or inflammatory stories in the media. In fact, heterosexually acquired HIV remains very rare in the US and Canada, except in special circumstances and risks. The large majority of hetersexually acquired infections are in injection drug users who share needles and the regular sex partner of infected persons, often only after several years of unprotected sex. That's because the average transmission risk through unprotected vaginal sex, if one partner has HIV, is around 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 2,000. Even among most commercial sex workers, HIV is rare; the chance either of your partners was infected certainly is under 1% and perhaps under 1 in 1,000. And in your case, you can be quite sure at least one of your partners doesn't have it; most people don't lie about their HIV status when asked directly.
Equally important, condoms work. Whatever small risk might have existed was almost entirely mitigated by your wise decision to use condoms for vaginal sex. If the condoms did not obvious break wide open, than protection is complete. The problem with condoms of "not good quality" is that they break more easily; there is no such thing as microscopic leaks that allow HIV transmission.
With those remarks as the basis, here are my responses to your specific questions:
1) Both in person and now, I recommend that you do not be tested for HIV or other STDs. There simply is no need. However, if you remain anxious about it despite the scientific evidence I have given and my strong, reasoned reassurance, you can always be tested anyway if it will help reduce your fears. But you also need to understand that it is unreasonable to expect that you're going to be tested every time you have sex with a new partner.
2) Her geographic origin makes no difference in my opinion or advice. HIV is relatively uncommon in China.
3) What is the evidence you had a "yeast infection"? What symptoms? Professionally diagnosed? Even if a confirmed yeast infection, however, it would not change my opinion or advice. Some yeast infections are more common in chronic HIV or overt AIDS, i.e. in people infected for many years, but they are not evidence of new HIV infections.
I hope this helps. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
What's to clarify? Yes, the current ("third generation") antibody tests are 90% reliable (or more) at 4 weeks, as I said above.
Please accept the reassurance and move on. That's all for this thread.
Please accept the reassurance and move on. That's all for this thread.
Thank you Dr.
I dont want to really waste anymore of your time. Just one small clarification. when you say third generation HIV anibody test, it does not include p24 antigen. is it still 90% reliable. I think it was only third generation anibody test done without DNA. I will really appreciate if you could just clarify this.
It will be really helpful. I wont ask anymore questions
Thanks
I dont want to really waste anymore of your time. Just one small clarification. when you say third generation HIV anibody test, it does not include p24 antigen. is it still 90% reliable. I think it was only third generation anibody test done without DNA. I will really appreciate if you could just clarify this.
It will be really helpful. I wont ask anymore questions
Thanks
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
The third generation HIV antibody tests are closer to 90% reliable at 28 days. From a strict risk assessment perspective, you didn't need HIV testing at all. But if you want to have the additional reassurance of a 100% reliable test result, have another EIA at 6-8 weeks.
Here is a thread that discusses test relability at various intervals. Read the entire thread; they most important information comes in the follow-up comments:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/HIV-Prevention/-A-Question-on-Testing/show/1347755
That will be all for this thread. You didn't catch HIV or any other STD from the sexual exposures you are concerned about. Try to stop worrying about it.
Here is a thread that discusses test relability at various intervals. Read the entire thread; they most important information comes in the follow-up comments:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/HIV-Prevention/-A-Question-on-Testing/show/1347755
That will be all for this thread. You didn't catch HIV or any other STD from the sexual exposures you are concerned about. Try to stop worrying about it.
Hello Dr:
I got my test results back today
Thay are as follows:
Chlamydia and gonorrhea negative
HepA non reactive
HepB non reactive
HepC non reactive
Anti Hiv 1 and 2 non reactive
Anti Hiv 1 and 2 no evidence of hiv infection
T. palladum Screening (RPR) non reactive
My question is regarding HIV. This was done at 4 weeks(28days) exposure. I could not talk yo my GP who ordered the test as he is out of town for one week. Is this test reliable at 28 days. I spoke to nurse at BCCDC(british columbia centre for desease control, vancouver) where the test was performed. She told me that they do 3rd generation EIA test.She said that at 28 days this test is only 20-50% reliable. Is this reliable? Do I need further testing. Please advise.
Thank you.
I got my test results back today
Thay are as follows:
Chlamydia and gonorrhea negative
HepA non reactive
HepB non reactive
HepC non reactive
Anti Hiv 1 and 2 non reactive
Anti Hiv 1 and 2 no evidence of hiv infection
T. palladum Screening (RPR) non reactive
My question is regarding HIV. This was done at 4 weeks(28days) exposure. I could not talk yo my GP who ordered the test as he is out of town for one week. Is this test reliable at 28 days. I spoke to nurse at BCCDC(british columbia centre for desease control, vancouver) where the test was performed. She told me that they do 3rd generation EIA test.She said that at 28 days this test is only 20-50% reliable. Is this reliable? Do I need further testing. Please advise.
Thank you.
Dr. Thank you again.
Sorry Dr.
When I went to the GP he said there is 1 in 5 chaces of getting hiv infection. That comment really freaked me out. It is 1 in 1000 as everyone says.
When I went to the GP he said there is 1 in 5 chaces of getting hiv infection. That comment really freaked me out. It is 1 in 1000 as everyone says.
Thank you.
Hello , I just wanted to let you know that I did visit my GP today and told him the whole episode. Although i dont have any symptoms so far after 28 days, he has ordered tests including STD, Hepatitis and HIV. HIV test is called HIV Serology. I dont know how long it takes to get the results. I will pray and keep my fingures crossed.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you Dr. Actually i had already made an appointment prior to writing to you. In your previous comment you have written "test results so far". Actually i have not had any tests done so far. I will end this thread with last questions if you dont mind. I have read on the net that 50-80% people have acute symptoms 2-4 weeks from exposure. If you dont have symptoms during that time, it that further assurance.
Thank you for taking time to answer my question.
Thank you for taking time to answer my question.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Between the nature of the exposures, symptoms, and test results so far, I really see no need for you to be seen at the STD clinic at this time. But it's up to you.
That should wind up this thread. Take care.
That should wind up this thread. Take care.
Thank you very much. I have infact made an appointment to see public health STD clinic on may 17. Your input and assessment is very valuable. i have been really living in nightmare for the last 4 weeks.
Thanks
Thanks
Thank you for your quick response. I had visited my GP because i had rdeness on glans and white skin on penis head was peeling. I did not tell him about the incidence because i was so embarrased. He told me it is yeast infection and gave me Nystatin. It is much better now only occassional itching on the foreskin. I read on the internet that excessive stress can also cause yeast infection.
One more question, do most std symptoms would appear with in 26 days(that is the time since I had exposure).
Thank you.
One more question, do most std symptoms would appear with in 26 days(that is the time since I had exposure).
Thank you.
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