POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: scared186 on August 08, 2006, 08:55:47 pm
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I had sex with a streetwalker and I used a condom. When she was riding me, I noticed a lot of thick vaginal fluid at the base of my penis in the pubic area. Her vaginal lips and fluids were being rubbed aggressively into my skin at my pubic region.
I got a false positive with a Orasure oral test (not the RAPID), confirmed negative with a Western blot at 9 weeks since the incident. I am still scared sh*tless. I live in orange county, California where public health care services are horrible.
I know there are other posts about this topic. I was just hoping if people could answer my questions honestly and to the best of their knowledge without trying to make me feel better.
1) Is there a theoretical risk in my situation? In other words, can the HIV virus penetrate the skin when her vaginal fluids are literally "rubbed in" to my skin near the pubic area due to the 'roughness' of the sex?
2) What percentage of people seroconvert at 9 weeks? I hear that "most" people do. Can anyone quantify that?
3) Do I really need to get tested again? I don't have time to take off of work and use the crappy OC health services again. (they charge for rapid testing) I get tested for other STDs often. Should I just move on with regards to my HIV status?
Please, this has been bugging me so much that I can't perform my essential functions at work! Can anyone who is an Aidsmeds veteran answer my questions to the best of their knowledge?
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You had protected sex, no reason to test or retest in your situation.
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thanks rapidrod, can anyone answer the above questions, because my false positive seriously shoced me. and it seemed as if the healthcare professional didnt care about my reaction.
Thanks
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Scared,
To begin with, you did NOT have a risk of infection. Hiv CANNOT infect you through intact skin. Hiv needs to come into contact with specific cells in order to infect and those specific cells are NOT found in the skin - and that includes the skin on your pubic area and the shaft of your penis.
The bit you need to protect is the head of your penis and you did this by wearing a condom. This is why you had no risk. Condoms have been proven to be very effective when it comes to hiv transmission prevention.
You don't need to test again.
For future reference, enter your zip code into the HIV testing center database (http://www.hivtest.org/index.htm) to find a testing site near you.
While you're here, please read through the Welcome Thread (http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=220.0) and follow the links found there.
Keep using condoms and you will continue to avoid hiv infection.
Ann
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Your mind may be put more at ease if you read this:
http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=868.0
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Thanks everybody, I feel a better now. I know I am NEG but just out of curiosity I have another question, this time regarding the Oraquick Oral Test (not the rapid one).
When I was tested at 9 weeks, I was halfway thru a pretty bad cold and coughing a alot (this is the reason why I got tested in the first place). I got a false positive confirmed negative by Western blot.
I always thought that confirmatory tests such as Western blot required another sample. But they used the same oral sample to conduct the Western blot. Is there a possibility that this sample wasn't good enough (i.e. didn't contain enough antibodies) ?
I'm going to keep it to one question per post since when I tend to ask multiple, I end up not getting them answered. Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I feel a lot better.
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Just a point of clarification, I read the rules for this forum and I'm not worrying about my NO RISK scenario, I'm just seeking an answer to the post above regarding the western blot. Please don't kick me off the forum? Thanks :)
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They did the test correctly. They didn't need to take another swab or blood test.
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Scared,
Multiple questions are not a problem. To answer your enumerated questions above:
1). No.
2). Most people with seroconvert and test positive by 6 weeks. The average being 22 days.
3). No.
Morgan
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New Topic:
Anybody,
1) Why do Orasure (oral) HIV anitibody tests give false positive results?
2) Is a blood HIV antibody test any better than the oral swab in terms of the accruracy of the Elisa and Western blot performed on each sample type?
Thanks a lot for your support everyone.
-Sc186
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scared,
Why are you worrying about this testing stuff? You don't need to test over an incident of intercourse where you wore a condom. Condoms have been proven to be very effective when it comes to hiv prevention.
False positives happen because of the sensitivity of the tests. Any positive ELISA result must be backed up with a Western Blot.
Both types of tests are equally as good and they are both approved for hiv testing when used in the appropriate 12-13 week window period.
You didn't have a risk and you don't need to test.
Ann
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You guys are awesone people and this is one of the best websites I have ever visited. I apologize for my obsessive/compulsive tendencies. I find that spending too much time on this forum looking for answers drives me nuts! (esp. at work in my cubicle). Actually, sometimes I really get a kick out of some of the “fear” stories people have (i.e. the ones where they think they get stabbed by a needle intentionally)
Well, the reason why I am back is because I tested for HIV 5 days ago (at the 12 week cutoff period and also for other STIs) and having realized that I do not need to test for HIV, this two week wait is driving me nuts. This time I gave them a full blood sample to be analyzed by Quest Diagnostics. The Orasure website even says that blood samples are more reliable than swab samples. I made sure they took at least a quarter soda can worth of blood. (they didn’t actually put my sample in a can).
I’m sorry. I know you guys hate people who obsess over insignificant situations like myself. When I took the orasure oral test, my initial ELISA false positive made me feel like I was cheated.
Has anyone ever felt this way about the oral test? I feel like I should’ve gotten a “neg” to begin with. I have always used a condom for every act of vaginal intercourse.
Ann, please don’t kick me off this forum because I find it valuable when I need people to talk to.
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scared,
There is only so much this forum can do for you. We are not here to provide you with a social life and someone to talk to when you are at work. I'm sure your boss would not appreciate you spending company time and money surfing the internet to satisfy your "obsessive/compulsive tendencies".
You didn't have a risk. You will receive a negative result. False positives happen sometimes and they are testament to how good the tests actually are (because they're so sensitive). There are checks and balances in place to identify false positives.
I suggest you keep yourself busy - try doing the work you're paid to - until you receive your results. Then it will definitely be time to move on.
Ann
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thanks Ann for your valuable input.
I was thinking about the concept of theoretical risk:
so if I were to have protected vaginal intercourse with over 200+ known hiv positive women, would I be at risk (considering that protected vaginal is the only activity I engage in)
(FYI, i would never sleep with this many people)
I am a scientist for a really large company and I operate on principles of theory.
is there a risk here? i just don't believe serodiscordant studies because in some cases, they only have intercourse about once every few months or so.
is frequency of protected intercourse with a know hiv+ person a risk?
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You can have sex as often as you want as long as you have applied the condom on correctly and you use plenty of water base lube. Being a scientist yourself, I wonder why you would ask? Scientist are the ones that use the term "theoretical" when they can't answer a question scientifically or they just don't have the answers and they are guessing.
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i just don't believe serodiscordant studies because in some cases, they only have intercourse about once every few months or so.
scared,
According to who? The couples who took part in those studies were subjected to intense scrutiny of their sex lives. These people entered the studies because they wanted to know the truth as much as anyone. Why would they lie? Why would the scientist who designed and executed the study not be aware of their subject's activities and report their finding accordingly? We would know if the results of these tests were skewed in the way you suggest. They weren't. The longest one lasted ten years. Surely that's saying something?
If you had protected intercourse with 2000 positive people you would not have a risk, provided you used the condoms correctly as well as consistently. Correctly used condoms rarely break. As long as your condom does not break, you're good to go.
Ann
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thanks Rapid and Ann,
I would definitely believe you guy more than I would believe any other information I bump into elsewhere whether it be a website or a doctors comments.
Ann,
i apologize for not quite understanding this.. but You mentioned that the longest one lasted 10 years... Does this mean the study lasted 10 years or after 10 years, the negative partner got infected?
I find it really valuable to learn about anything on a daily basis.
-186
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scared,
The study lasted ten years and in the couples who used condoms consistently and correctly for intercourse, but not other activities, none of the negative partners became positive. Another study lasted three years and ... I think the third was another three or a seven year study. It's in the Transmission lesson.
Ann
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Ann, thanks very much for your educated response. I've been very patient and now since I know a lot more about hiv than I ever used to I have a question:
I know that hiv is successfully transmitted thru the male urethra since it is a mucous membrane. Now the pubic area (particularly the testicles) is covered with hair follicles (some slightly enlarged). It seems that these areas where pubic hairs come out from could be considered mucous membranes and could possibly aid in absorption the same way the male urethra does. I know that skin is an excellent barrier to hiv transmission, but the 'pubic area' has lots of these areas where hair grows from.
Now my question:
Wouldn't it pose a risk if this area was covered in vaginal fluid and rubbed ferociously into these regions as she was on top of me?
I really appreciate your answers and just to be on the safe side, I am waiting for my 12 week result this friday.
9 weeks - (orasure) - negative :)
12 weeks - (blood test) - pending
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scared,
Do you think that we don't know what skin and hair is like in the pubic region and testicles? Do you think we don't take these things into account when giving risk assessments?
Hair follicles are NOT mucus membranes.
You did NOT have a risk of hiv infection, no matter how hard she was grinding. NO RISK.
Ann
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i've came accoss what it seems like 'miracle stories' on this website and others that made me decide to come back with a new topic:
i've read stories where hiv- men engage in unprotected intercourse with hiv+ women for periods of years and the men don't get infected. the longest i heard of was around 5 years and still no infection!
does anyone know any other stories like this? does low viral load play a key role in these 'lucky' stories?