hiv-infection ?

[Torsten]

It

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Sex with a randomly selected woman who has had other partners and whose HIV status is unknown of course is not zero.  I do not recall the details of the exposure you described, but if I used that term, it means I judged the risk as close enough to zero in your particular case that you can forget about it.

HHH, MD

[smurfy]

Hi doctor,

i know that is should NOT post more questions to you here. But i spend 20 $ (10 $ twice, my internet broke down at the first) with my credit-card, so maybe you are 'open' for one more question in this post.

you said that my risk was ZERO with my exposure.

Do you mean that UNPROTECTED (NO condom) sex with
a "sexual open" girl is ZERO risk ? I doubt that !

Or did i misunderstood your answer ? (maybe a language conflict)

thanks again ! ;-)

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

I don't know what tests are used in Germany, but I would be surprised if they aren't the same or similar to those in the US and other industrialized countries.

HHH, MD

[Torsten]

Hello doc,

thank you very much for your answers !

There is ONE question left for me here:

is it possible that we use other hiv-tests here in
germany then YOU do in the usa ? Maybe our tests here
are less 'good' than yours ?

Best regards, Torsten

[Torsten]

Hi bigdaddy,

well, i thougt already "i am fine".........but why does that guy on the aids-hotline tell me such things ? I think someone at his place should exactly know what he says and he also should be kind of a 'professional'. I am sure he is not a doctor, but he will answer such phone-calls as mine about 30 times (or 20 or 50) a day and 'confuse' people with it ?!?

[bigdaddy1992]

Hi Torsten, I am not a doctor but i have been following this site for a while now and i find it a really good source of information.

I believe the doc will say that your test done at 9 weeks is conclusive proof you do not have HIV, further to that your partner also had an HIV test after 7 weeks which was negative. The doc will say that a 6 week test that returns negative is conclusive that you dont have it. Also for you to be negative and your partner to be negative to then turn positive, the odds are astonomical.

I know it's hard but you have to believe you dont have it, because you dont.

Also i too went through the checking symptoms on the net and self examining stage and believe me it does you no good, especially as though you could link virtually any ailment to hiv!!!

I think you need to wait and listen to the docs reply and then try to deal with any anxiety that you may have,otherwise it will drive you nuts and it's just not worth the effort!!

Good Luck

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

The risk of acquiring HIV from any single episode of vaginal sex averages something around 1 chance in 1000, even if one of the partners has HIV; your partner's test result shows she was not infected anyway.  Further, despite what you were told by the hotline counseling, at 9 weeks standard HIV testing detects almost all infections.  To answer your specific questions:

1) He is wrong.  By 6-8 weeks, a negative standard test is at least 95% and perhaps 99% reliable.  It is very rare for someone to take 3 months to become positive.  But the misinformation might not be the fault of the hotline counselor.  Most likely s/he is not medically trained and is just saying what s/he has been trained to say.

2) Zero.  Your odds of getting hit by lightning are higher than the chance you acquired HIV during the exposure you describe.

3) I don't know what the spot on your penis is, so I cannot predict whether it would increase the risk of catching HIV if exposed.  But if the risk is almost zero and the spot increased the risk two-fold, then your risk is double almost zero.  Still almost zero.

Bottom line:  Relax.  You were not at risk to begin with and do not need further testing.  Good luck--

HHH, MD