Is HIV difficult to catch?

[healthbuck]

i was watching the local news and a HIV expert(???) says that HIV is not that easy to catch because the virus is fragile. he basically said that the only way to catch HIV is repeated sexual intercourse with a HIV+ person. you cannot get it on the first exposure. it has to be constant sexual intercourse with an infected person. as he says and i quote in HIS WORDS, "SEX, SEX AND MORE SEX!" to catch the virus. to the moderators on this forum i would like to have your opinion on this. is what the HIV expert says is correct?

[Emily_MHManager]

Hey everyone -

There are no precise answers on how much fluid and/or virus needs to be exchanged to transmit HIV.

We know this absolutely:

HIV is transmitted via unprotected vaginal and anal sex, and sharing needles and equipment for injection drug use.  

Regular condom use is imperative.  If you shoot drugs, use your own stuff, don't share with anyone.  

The rest is "what ifs" and playing the odds.

Emily

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[RainLover71]

Thats because their viral loads where undectable and they were less infectious.

[LIZZIE LOU]

THERE IS NO PRECISE ANSWER TO THOSE QUESTIONS.

[healthbuck]

im sure that when the HIV+ man was having sex with those women that some sexual fluid was exchanged. now i guess the question is how much sexual fluid have to be exchanged to be infected with HIV? remember some got it and some didnt. also i remember the story of rapper easy-e who died of AIDS over 15 yrs ago. it was said that his widow did not contract the disease. also magic johnson who said that he was HIV+. his current wife didnt catch the disease as well. so it leave to question how much sexual fluid have to be exchanged or how repeatedly one need to have sex with a HIV+ person to really be infected?

[RainLover71]

Can i put a question to both of you,you both go out have unprotected penerative vaginal or anal sex for the first time,are you then going to test for hiv or are you going to take the advice of this hiv specialist and not test because it was a first time exposure as you can,t contract the hiv virus from a first time exposure remember,just curious?Of course your going to test because the reality is you can contract hiv from a first time exposure and thats a fact.

[RainLover71]

There are plenty of GP,s out there that tell their patients to test out to 6 months is this the true window period,of course it,s not but they still say it because they are ignorant on the subject of hiv and all they are doing is causing people hiv related anxiety and stress.Its about excepting the facts when it comes to hiv.

[sarath631]

the risk of infection depends upon the amount of virus in the fluid during an insertive sex, as u may know that a newly infected person has a greater ability to infect others coz it took some time(more likely 2 to 3 months) to develop the antibodies against the virus. in other words the amount of virus in the fluid is higher during this time.. if the intercourse is with a newly infected person the risk of getting hiv is higher and for  the same reason it can happen in the first time itself

[sarath631]

it is not the matter of frequency of exposure.. its all about whether the fluid exchange took inside the body or not. so if u had an unprotected anal/vaginal penetrative sex u had an exposure and need testing.. the frequency stuff is just a mind game and believe me luck has  no role in science

[LIZZIE LOU]

SEXUALLY SPEAKING...THE BOTTOM LINE IS:

HIV IS TRANSMITTED THROUGH UNPROTECTED SEX

IF YOU HAVE UNPROTECTED SEX WITH SOMEONE AND DONT KNOW THEIR STATUS...YOU SHOULD TEST ! ! !

[RainLover71]

Yes,but there have been many people that have contracted the hiv virus from first time exposures,it seems this so called hiv expert may have forgotten to mention that also.

[healthbuck]

i was reading dr. handsfeld's opinion on this and he said basically you cannot get hiv on the first exposure. basically what this local expert is saying that it has to be constant sex with an infected person. i was reading an article a few years back that a HIV positive man had sex with more than a dozen women without the use of condoms. out of the dozen a few caught the disease and the rest didnt. so thats why i was inquiring about how difficult it is to catch the disease.

[RainLover71]

You need to make up your mind what your saying,your all over the shop,one minute you say you can and the next minute you say you can,t,which is it?

[ricky_id]

We're dealing with two kinds of ignorance here: ignorance about no HIV risk and ignorance about getting HIV. I hope you won't belong to any of both camps.

[LIZZIE LOU]

you want to be that 1 in however many thousands?  IT CAN HAPPEN.

how would you feel if you didnt test and continued having unprotected sex with your loved one?  what if you passed it on to her / him because you didnt test?

if you have an exposure...you test to know your status !

[RainLover71]

It is a hard virus to contract and its very fragile outside the body exposed to the elements but he,s no hiv expert if he,s telling people that you can,t contract hiv from a first time encounter because believe me you can.