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question about hiv
About 3 years ago was the last time i had unprotected sex. At about 3 and a half weeks i went to test and came back negative for everything. She seemed like a normal girl, although that doesnt matter, but i never saw her again after that. My question is, what are the chances that the test was to early to be a good indicator, and what are the chances of contracting the disease in a one time encounter provided she was positive. I never got a real bad cold after that nor have i had any problems with being sick in the last three years. I do go out and drink alot and i smoke cigarettes which are both immune suppressors. Would three years of partying and always being run down bring out hiv symptoms during this time? The reason im revisiting this is because i had protected vaginal sex with a massage parlor girl but an unprotected handjob and i was worried after that. I will probably go get tested again this week sometime. And i am done with risky sex in general
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Sorry, my mistake. My last reply was intended for a different thread. I deleted it.
For your one-time-encounter risk, just delete the chance of condom failure (10%, or 0.1) from my calculation above. That makes your risk of having caught HIV from that event somewhere around 1 in 2 million. However, we can replace the condom failure element with the chance a negative test at 3 weeks missed the infection. That's probably around 20% (i.e., 80% of newly infected people have positive tests at 3 weeks). Factoring in that aspect, the chance you have HIV from that exposure is around 1 in10 million. Put that in context: A resident of the US has 1 chance in 1,756 of dying of an accident in the next 12 monrhs. In other words, the likelihood you will be dead of an auto accident, drowning, or other accident is 5,700 times higher than the chance you caught HIV.
You need to understand this about HIV: it is hard to transmit. It is the very rare person with HIV who has only a single exposure, or a few exposures, and gets infected. The vast majority of the million-plus Americans who have caught HIV had repeated, continuous, obvious high risk exposures -- like men having sex with hundreds of other men per year, without condoms. People like you can get HIV, but it is very rare in the US and other industrialized countries.
The bottom line repeats what I already said: have an HIV test in order to prove to yourself you aren't infected. Stay safe from here on out, as you are intending to do. And above all, don't drink heavily (which markedly worsens those 1:1756 odds) -- and don't forget your seat belt.
For your one-time-encounter risk, just delete the chance of condom failure (10%, or 0.1) from my calculation above. That makes your risk of having caught HIV from that event somewhere around 1 in 2 million. However, we can replace the condom failure element with the chance a negative test at 3 weeks missed the infection. That's probably around 20% (i.e., 80% of newly infected people have positive tests at 3 weeks). Factoring in that aspect, the chance you have HIV from that exposure is around 1 in10 million. Put that in context: A resident of the US has 1 chance in 1,756 of dying of an accident in the next 12 monrhs. In other words, the likelihood you will be dead of an auto accident, drowning, or other accident is 5,700 times higher than the chance you caught HIV.
You need to understand this about HIV: it is hard to transmit. It is the very rare person with HIV who has only a single exposure, or a few exposures, and gets infected. The vast majority of the million-plus Americans who have caught HIV had repeated, continuous, obvious high risk exposures -- like men having sex with hundreds of other men per year, without condoms. People like you can get HIV, but it is very rare in the US and other industrialized countries.
The bottom line repeats what I already said: have an HIV test in order to prove to yourself you aren't infected. Stay safe from here on out, as you are intending to do. And above all, don't drink heavily (which markedly worsens those 1:1756 odds) -- and don't forget your seat belt.
?? Im refering to hiv, not hsv???
Just to repeat, i had unprotected sex, then 3 and a half weeks later i had a negative test. This was three years ago.
Do you think i should be tested again after a one time exposure that happened three years ago, that was the last time i had unportected sex?
Just to repeat, i had unprotected sex, then 3 and a half weeks later i had a negative test. This was three years ago.
Do you think i should be tested again after a one time exposure that happened three years ago, that was the last time i had unportected sex?
Yeah, but i said i did have unprotected vaginal sex three years ago. And i tested negative at 3 and a half weeks, should i go back and retest. What are the chances of catching it in a one time encounter? I think you thought i was referring to the protected sex i had, im talking about the unprotected episode three years ago
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the HIV forum.
"About 3 years ago was the last time i had unprotected sex." That gives you your own answer: no unprotected vaginal or anal sex means no HIV risk. The virus is not transmitted during condom protected sex, or at least too rarely to worry about; and never by hand jobs. And if you're in the US or another industrialzed country, the odds any particular sexually active woman has HIV is under 1 in 1,000. And even for unprotected vaginal sex with an HIV infected woman, the chance of transmission is believed to average around 1 for every 2,000 exposures.
So let's do a little math: Chance your recent partner had HIV, 1 in 1,000 (0.001). Chance you caught it, if she had HIV, 1 in 2,000 (0.0005). Assume condoms are 90% effective (actually it's closer to 99%), i.e. 10% chance the condom failed without your knowledge (0.1). To calculate your HIV risk you multiply those values: 0.001 x 0.0005 x 0.1 = 0.00000005. That's 1 chance in 20 million -- i.e. zero for all practical purposes.
Smoking, alchohol, partying too much, or being run down do not influence these figures. They are not immune suppressors to the extent you seem to think; and in any case immune suppression does not increase HIV risk if exposed.
Since you're nervous about it, you probably should go ahead with an HIV test for peace of mind. You have been sexually active (even if almost always protected), and all sexually active persons ought to have an HIV test from time to time, like once a year -- so it's probably time for you to do that. While you're at it, have standard STD testing as well (urine for gonorrhea and chlamydia, plus a syphilis blood test). You surely will not have a positive HIV result, and most likely the other tests will be negative as well.
In summary, it sounds like you have been "done with risky sex" for the past 3 years. Good for you in sticking to that standard into the future. You can expect to remain free of HIV.
I hope this helps. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
"About 3 years ago was the last time i had unprotected sex." That gives you your own answer: no unprotected vaginal or anal sex means no HIV risk. The virus is not transmitted during condom protected sex, or at least too rarely to worry about; and never by hand jobs. And if you're in the US or another industrialzed country, the odds any particular sexually active woman has HIV is under 1 in 1,000. And even for unprotected vaginal sex with an HIV infected woman, the chance of transmission is believed to average around 1 for every 2,000 exposures.
So let's do a little math: Chance your recent partner had HIV, 1 in 1,000 (0.001). Chance you caught it, if she had HIV, 1 in 2,000 (0.0005). Assume condoms are 90% effective (actually it's closer to 99%), i.e. 10% chance the condom failed without your knowledge (0.1). To calculate your HIV risk you multiply those values: 0.001 x 0.0005 x 0.1 = 0.00000005. That's 1 chance in 20 million -- i.e. zero for all practical purposes.
Smoking, alchohol, partying too much, or being run down do not influence these figures. They are not immune suppressors to the extent you seem to think; and in any case immune suppression does not increase HIV risk if exposed.
Since you're nervous about it, you probably should go ahead with an HIV test for peace of mind. You have been sexually active (even if almost always protected), and all sexually active persons ought to have an HIV test from time to time, like once a year -- so it's probably time for you to do that. While you're at it, have standard STD testing as well (urine for gonorrhea and chlamydia, plus a syphilis blood test). You surely will not have a positive HIV result, and most likely the other tests will be negative as well.
In summary, it sounds like you have been "done with risky sex" for the past 3 years. Good for you in sticking to that standard into the future. You can expect to remain free of HIV.
I hope this helps. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
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