The forum has been very successful, as measured by the number of questions posed, the number of users and hits, the thanks expressed by many of you, and mostly by the quality of the questions. But its usefulness is diluted when people post questions that have been repeatedly addressed, especially in low risk situations; and it especially harmed when the same persons post repeat questions in order to deal with their own anxieties.
More people attempt to post questions than can be accommodated. Whenever a repetative or otherwise unnecessary question is posted, it prevents someone from getting in with a new topic. In an attempt to limit this problem, I am going to be more strict about deleting new posts that duplicate previous ones. Here are some topics that are at high risk of being deleted without response:
- STD/HIV from oral exposure to female genitals (cunnlingus): extremely low, almost never worth anxiety or worry, unless exposed to a particular infection
- STD/HIV risk after a single condom-protected exposure, especially when the partner isn't known to have any STD problem
- STD/HIV risk from manual (hand to genital) contact (zero)
- Time to positive HIV test: sometimes positive as soon as 10 days, usually positive by 3 weeks, and virtually always positive by 6 weeks, despite official advice that it is best to wait 3 months to be sure. If your HIV test is negative 6 weeks after exposure (and especially after 12 weeks), you don't have HIV, period.
Thank you for your support of the STD Forum.
HHH, MD