[Question #13962] Unprotected sex with stripper

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1 months ago
Last night around 7pm I had unprotected sex with a stripper. I’m in the St Louis region and it last less than 5 minutes. Should I go get PEP? Am I high risk for HIV? She is a Cuban immigrant but she seemed more concerned about getting something from me and said she was clean.
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
1 months ago
Welcome back to the forum. Thank you for your continued confidence in our services.

As for your two other questions several months ago, this was a very low risk event. The large majority of sexual events, even with high risk partners, result in no STI. That your partner is concerned about her risk from you is not unreasonable:  in general, women are at greater STI risk from their male partners than vice versa. PEP to prevent HIV is always a personal decision, but few if any experts would advise it in this situation:  the chance a partner like yours has HIV probably under one chance in a thousand; and if she WERE infected, your chance of infecting it was under one chance in 2,000. (HIV is hard to transmit!) I also would not even advise testing for HIV or other STIs -- but of course you are free to do that if you remain worried. (Reassurance is a valid reason for testing, in addition to actual risk.)

If you remain concerned, you should consider an in person visit to a clinic or doctor with STI/HIV experience in your area -- such as one of St. Louis area's excellent public health sexual health clinics. Such experts likely will have a better understanding of the actual chance a partner  like your had HIV or other STI. Local expertise from a provider who understands the risks and probabilities locally always is in the best position to provide useful advice about risks and testing.

I hope these information is helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD
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