[Question #13687] Protected Vaginal Sex at Massage Parlor- HIV Risk
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3 days ago
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Hi Doctor,
Last week on December 27, I did visit a massage parlor and had protected vaginal sex. The condom did not break, loosen or leak. However it felt dry, so the lady used couple of drop of massage oil.
I asked the lady about her status, she said she doest have any thing and she always uses protection with every client. I want to trust it but unable to.
In your experience have you seen any case where there was no condom break, leak or slip but someone did get infected.
I would like to know my risk of getting HIV from this exposure, I checked online it says latex do not allow hiv virus to pass through its, however its efficacy is around 70-90% which kinds of worries me.This is kind of keeping me worried and impact my daily life. I would appreciate if you could help me on this.
Thanks!
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
3 days ago
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Welcome back to the forum, but I'm sorry you found it necessary for such a low risk event.
The chance a partner like your has HIV is very low -- close to zero if you're in the US or other industrialized country. And even with no condom at all, if a female has HIV, the risk from a single episode of unprotected vaginal sex is under 1 chance in 2,000. Given the low chance she had HIV plus a properly used condom that did not break, the chance you caught HIV from this event probably is no higher than one in a million.
There are two ways to consider condom effectiveness. Biologically, they are nearly 100% effective if properly used and the condom doesn't break. Your 70-80% figure is what is called "use effectiveness": among people who use condoms consistently over many exposures, the effectiveness is lower because of improper use, condom breakage, and so on. For the single exposure you had, you can consider the condom to be 100% protective.
From a medical or risk standpoint, you do not need testing for HIV or other STIs. Of course you are free to be tested anyway, i.e. strictly for reassurance. From a personal standpoint, if somehow I were in your situation, I would not be tested and would continue unprotected sex with my wife with no worry about infecting her with HIV.
I hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.
HHH, MD
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3 days ago
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Thank you for the response. It clears some of my questions. I would like to bring one more thing into your attention.
I have been diagnosed with tinnitus and doctors have prescribed me prednisone for two weeks, it been a week now, I started with 60 mg for 5 days then taper 5 mg every other day. This started sometime December 30th, and post starting medication I am feeling very anxious, lethargic and weak. I have had couple of episodes of loose stool in last two days.
Do you think this anywhere related to HIV ARS Symptoms, its 9th day from protected sex episode and 7th day from tinnitus episode, or I am mixing these, I read prednisone reduces immune response, just wondering can that cause any hiv related issues or I am overthinking
Thank you for your patience.
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
2 days ago
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HIV infection is not a likely cause of tinnitus and the other symptom you report. The timing also doesn't fit well: ARS symptoms rarely start as soon as 7-8 days after catching the virus; usually it takes 10-20 days. Prednisone indeed suppresses the immune system, but not in ways that increase HIV risk or alter ARS symptoms.---
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2 days ago
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Thank you Doctor, would your assessment change, based on the symptoms that have come up?
1 - unless protection failure occurs, even the other person has hiv( which i am assuming, eve though you said in us it’s highly unlikely). There is no risk for HIV, as there was no leak, break or slip,
2- do you think use of oil makes latex weak and can let hiv pass?
3 - my symptoms are from prednisone side effects, not from HIV ARS
3- Do i need to take a test for hiv, other than reassuring myself.
Thank you.
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
2 days ago
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1. Correct, no risk.
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2. You have misunderstood the information and advice about oils and latex condoms. Oil can weaken latex, leading to condom breakage. However, it does not cause increased leakage. If the condom remains intact, protection is complete.
3. I doubt your symptom care due to prednisone, which to my knowledge does not cause tinnitus. But they also are not from HIV/ARS.
4. Yes: reassurance alone is a valid reason for HIV testing, and like most anxious person, you probably will be more reassured by a negative test result than by anything more I can say.
That completes the two follow-up comments and replies included with each question and so ends this thread. I hope the discussion has been helpful. Best wishes and stay safe, as you have been.
