[Question #1018] Worried of hiv and herpes
99 months ago
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
99 months ago
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Welcome to our Forum. Clients do not get to choose who will answer their questions. Dr. Handsfield and I answer questions based on our availability. I happened to pick up your question today and will be answering.
Your results following your exposure in February are conclusive and prove that you did not acquire HIV from that exposure. this however does not mean that your partner did not have HIV, either at that time or at the time of your more recent encounter. Most exposures to partners with STIs. including HIV do not lead to infection.
For HIV, it is estimated that if your partner had untreated HIV, the risk of infection is between 1 in 1000 and 1 in 2000. Further, in that your partner lives in a location where HIV is rather common, she may have been infected in the time interval since your encounter in February, For all of these reasons, it is in your best interest to be tested for STIs including HIV. At this time, 12 days after your exposure, tests for common STIs such as gonorrhea and chlamydia will be definitive. In contrast, you will have to wait until four weeks after exposure to completely rule out the possibility of HIV- at 4 weeks the results of 4th generation, combination HIV antibody/antigen tests are conclusive. Having urged you to be tested, I would also say that, for the same statistical reasons mentioned above, the likelihood that you got HIV form this exposure is very low (less than 1 in 1000 since you do not know that your partner even has HIV).
Finally, looking for symptoms of HIV is not reliable but the symptoms you mention do not suggest recently acquired HIV
I hope these comments are helpful to you. EWH
99 months ago
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
99 months ago
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Sorry for missing your herpes question. Your posts are hard to read because you use little or no punctuation.
Herpes. I doubt that the lesions you describe are herpes from your description but you don't mention a location. If they are not on your genitals or a directly exposed site, I would not worry that they are herpes.
There is no such thing as "partial penetration", just as there is no such thing as being "just a little pregnant". Either you did or you didn't. If you penetrated your partner, there is risk, if you did not, there is no risk. Logically, the briefer the duration of an exposure the lower the risk but there are no scientific data on how the duration of exposure impacts the probability of infection.
Your wife's fungal infection is not related to either herpes or your risk for HIV. EWH
98 months ago
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
98 months ago
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Now that the bumps have gone, you may not learn what they were but what you describe does not sound at all like herpes. the bumps may have represented a fungal infection (which, in men, can go away without treatment) or normal skin with more blood present than usual. they do not suggest herpes however.
I understand that you feel bad/guilty about your encounter but that does not mean or even suggest that you have an STI or any sort. I urge you not to worry further and to move forward without concern.
This is my third reply to your questions so, according to Forum policy, this thread will be closed without further answers later today. EWH