worried and guilty

[nickyoo]

im a married 35 year old man. i went to a massage parlor and had unprotected sex with a lady for about 15 seconds, a stupid mistake i wont make again, and although its been a month with no obvious symptoms, im still freaked out. i havent seen a doctor. i was on anibiotics for a chest cold when it occoured and i got a vasectomy 2 weeks later. the vasectomy produced another infection and now i am on Kaflex for a week 4 times a day. my wife and i still need to use condoms to prevent pregnancy for 20-30 ejaculations, but then what? should i be worried even though its been a month and im on anti-biotics? should i see my urologist about this or a general practice doctor? any help would be great!
thanks

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

The chance of any STD acquisition is exremely low, both because you were on an atibiotic that would protect you against all the common bacterial infections; and becuase of the brevity of your exposure.  In the absence of symptoms, you don't nee to get reexamined, nor do you need to worry about transmitting anything to your wife.

HHH, MD

[gab5]

My friend I know what you are going through the anxiety will kill you.  I had uprotected oral sex about 3 months ago and I am married.  I have had a number of unnecessary HIV tests all negative thank god.  My advice is to go and get tested.  Based on the odds it is unlikely you contracted HIV or any other STD.  But, it is better for you to be sure.  Good Luck !!!

[Dr john]

Hello

Please get a full STD test and HIV test wait 13 weeks after your potential exposure. All though your risk is low it is still possible but not likely to catch a STD from your exposure,

For your own peace of mind I suggest testing until you test negative please do not sleep unprotected with your wife.

I suspect this to be all negative but if you did catch Chlamydia or something easy to catch and passed it on to your wife you would never live it down

Kind Regards

Dr John
  

[gab5]

Dr. John.  The doctor monitoring this site has made it clear that HIV tests are always positive by six weeks.  Why are you saying 13 weeks?  I have done research on this and the Dr.'s advice regarding the six weeks seems to be accurate.

[nickyoo]

could i contract chlamydia even though i was on antibiotics at the time and i am now on kaflex?

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

The odds are very low, although it depends in part on what antibiotic you were taking at the time.

HHH, MD

[Dr john]

Hi Gab

The CDC recommends 13 weeks for a conclusive negative Elisa test, a negative test at 6 weeks is extremely encouraging and a good indication of your 13 week gold seal negative. But in saying that it's best to follow there guidelines, as they are the center of disease control. There are tests like the P24 ANTIGEN that looks for particles of the virus itself that can be found at 6 weeks unless its one of these 4 Th generation Elisa antigen tests you can't take it as conclusive.

Dr John    

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

The likelihood that nickyoo caught anything during the very brief exposure he describes is extremely low, and the chance of HIV specifically probably really is zero.  My understanding is that almost all US labs now routinely use the newer (4th generation) HIV ELISAs, but even with the older assays >95% of persons with new infection seroconvert within 6 weeks.  Say nickyoo had a 1 in 100,000 chance of getting HIV in that encounter, which probably is a high estimate.  With 95% seroconversion rate by 6 weeks, a negative test at that time translates to one chance in 2 million that he acutually has HIV.

While I agree (and have repeatedly advised on this forum) that anxious people who find themselves obsessing about HIV risks should indeed get tested after 3 months "for peace of mind".  But I disagree that nidkyoo should not have sex with his wife (without condoms) in the meantime.  All this assumes, of course, that his only risk for STD/HIV acquisition is the event he described in his initial post.

HHH, MD