HIV/AIDS Community

Your risk from your sexual encounters...

1. Unprotected oral sex carries an estimated risk of .5 to 1 per 10,000 exposures with a source KNOWN to carry the virus. Your risk would be less since you cannot confirm your partners status and (I'm assuming this is the oral sex through underwear) the virus cannot cross clothing. Saliva alone in an infected individual does not contain the virus.

2. Protected oral sex - no risk

3. Fingering and breast contact - no risk.

To answering your other questions..

1. Yes, testing is quite accurate.
2. These are not low risk. They are non-risk.
3. We do not attempt to diagnose HIV from symptoms, only risk. And, quite frankly, your risk was simply not there from the experiences you describe.

Gail

Thanks for the info Gail.
1) You are right the one with the CSW was through underpants only. The Other unprotected Oral contact was with a stripper in as strip club(2.5 years ago). So, to ensure whether my fundamental understanding itself is wrong, what is an oral sex that poses that minuscule risk. Is it just her mouth on my organ or only if I ejaculate/ if pre ejaculate fluid enters her mouth it is called an oral sex act?
2)Does that mean Breast fluid/milk affects only babies and not adults? If so why? and I am repeating again, I have had atleast 10-15 times where in I had sucked deeply their nippular areas? Any info on this?
3)I read about fingering also. Some online doctors say in a single line as long as there are no active cuts or anything we should not be having an issue. So what are these cuts we are talking about that would pose that small risk? Can these cuts be small unnoticeable/negligible. Kindly throw some light on those also if possible.
4)MOST IMPORTANTLY, SO SYMPTOMS ARE NOT VERY SPECIFIC FOR THIS DISEASE? DESPITE GETTING THE RESULTS IN MY FAVOR, THESE ISSUES WHAT I HAVE DESCRIBED ARE FREAKING ME OUT. SO IT MEANS IT IS NOT NECESSARY THAT PEOPLE WITH THIS DISEASE SHOULD GET THESE ISSUES OR WHETHER AT ALL THESE ISSUES I DESCRIBED ARE PERTINENT TO WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT? A LITTLE ELABORATION ON THIS WOULD BE A GREAT GREAT CONSOLATION TO ME.

THANKS AGAIN. HOPING TO HEAR BACK.

1. The extremely minimal risk from receiving oral sex (and this would be the .5 per 10,000 exposure estimate) is if your partner is 1. HIV positive, 2. actively bleeding from her mouth at the time of the event and 3. blood enters your body through this event.

2. Babies consume lots of breastmilk very frequently while being breastfed. This also have immune systems that are underdeveloped when compared to an adult.

3. In order for transmission of this virus to occur, it must actually ENTER to body, typically through an open cut, wound or (as in the case of sharing IV drug needles), an open injection of infected blood into the body. Dry skin, peeling skin, paper cuts, sealed cuts are not open portals into the body.

4. While pretty much everyone who is worried they are HIV positive focus on symptoms, the truth is that, except for a short term bout of "flu like" symptoms 2 to 6 weeks after transmission, HIV has NO symptoms for many years. It is not until the immune system has been severely damaged by the virus that significant symptoms begin to develop. In an untreated individual this takes an average of a decade from the initial transmission to begin to occur.

Things like headaches, dry mouth, sometimes difficulty swallowing, and what appears to be swollen lymph nodes are not symptoms of late stage HIV. Most folks, for example, don't realize that lymph nodes in the neck can be felt all the time; this doesn't mean they are swollen but rather simply closer to the surface of the skin. Poking at them to see if they are swollen tends to make them tender.

The bottom line is that the ONLY way one can have an accurate idea of their status is through testing. You've had this; all results have been negative and it's time you accepted the fact that you are HIV negative.

Gail

Thanks Gail. It was very elaborate. The most important info was the one you gave about how long it will take for the symptoms to surface. I am trying hard to overcome this. If needed, I am thinking of getting counselling advise also to move on. Only one question.
1) The wounds/cuts which you mentioned are little vague. Can you give some examples. Like a knife cut on finger would be an open cut right? Till it completely heals may be for a week or so is still an open portal. Kindly throw some light on this alone lastly.

I WILL STOP WITH THIS ANSWER. THANKS A TON GAIL.
U ARE A SO HELPFUL, THANKS!

No, an open portal into the body is a cut that is actively bleeding.

Gail