chest rash not itchy, goes away within 5 minutes

[TomMunky]

hi i am farley new to this, and i am very worried about hiv. i had unprotected sex with a girl once, we were both 16 at the time and this happened about 4 or 5 years ago.  i wasnt really worried until ive been seeing all these commercials on tv and everyone talking abbout it. i thought maybe im infected to, so i have 2 questions to ask. 1. how long does someone have to have hiv to pass it on to someone and, 2. i get a red rash on my chest much like the one on the yahoo image search under hiv sypmtoms, but my rash only comes on the chest when i am feeliong hot or when i get out of a warm shower, they dissapear in about 5 minutes. i have sensative skin but this has never happened before. should i be worried????

[rocky999]

Hi there.  The rash you have is your skin's common reaction to heat (it goes away after few minutes).  It is completely unrelated.  In any case, don't feel sorry about your sexual exposure.  You were both young and inexperienced and the only risk might have been an unwanted pregnancy.  Relax and take care.  If you still have doubts, just get tested to get HIV out of your mind.  Take care.

[TomMunky]

yea i know she wasnt a virgin though. :(, and surprisingly i had a condom in my hand and i managed to loose it , unfortunatly i was to young and exited to stop and think about what i was doing. thx for answeing though. do u have any idea about the rash i have that dissapears??

[bamboosalt]

hi, i dont think you have HIV, u said i had sex at 16 years old, well, quite many young people had sex at that age, this is not a problem.

HIV is very common among IV drug users, gays, and bi-sexuals.

HIV is not big problem for high school students, cos u and your girlfriend both were virgins before u first sex experience.

[TomMunky]

Thank you very much guys. i appreciate all your help and efforts to answer my questions. i guess im just paranoid. seeing all these commercials and hearing the stories makes any normal person stop and think wether they can be infected. AIDS awareness, should be exposed to even highschool students its better to learn at an early age than make mistakes that kill your imune system slowly. im glad their is a website like this that will help peopl;e like myself who are curiouse and need to ask real people some questions. not just reading websites based on statistics. reading your answers took alot of weight of my shoulders

cheers guys

[strata]

Nothing about your rash indicates HIV.

Rash due to HIV-related ARS:
-does not come-and-go
-does not disappear in 5 minutes
-does not occur in the absence of other flu-like symptoms
-does not persist 4-5 years after exposure (at most it might START 3-4 weeks after exposure and last 1-3 weeks).

Most HIV infections are spread when the HIV+ person has been just recently infected. This is because the viral load goes from 0 and replicates very quickly during the first few weeks (this is what causes ARS). Then the body's antibody response kicks in, lowering the viral load to the set point (a balance between viral replication and immune response), which often persists for years until the disease progresses.

During those first few weeks of high viral load is when the risk of transmission is greatest.

If your 16yo sexual experience is your only risk factor, you are most likely HIV- and have nothing to worry about. I don't think testing is warranted in this case. Of course, if it'd make you feel better, get a simple, routine HIV antibody test as part of your next health checkup. Routine HIV testing is smart for anyone who is sexually active with multiple partners.