POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: b05bf on November 30, 2006, 07:31:11 am
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Hello all,
Thank you very much for the brilliant service you provide.
Back in august, I had protected oral and vaginal sex with a female sex worker whilst on holiday.
The brothel seemed like a pretty reputable place if price is anything to go by. Probably not!! I was pretty drunk and towards the end of my "rendezvous" whilst having vaginal sex, the condom either slipt off as I was pulling out or rode up near the climax.
From your excellent correspondence with fellow worriers, I have learned that this could be termed low risk.
I still took it upon myself to get checked out and tested just to be on the safe side.
I am from Ireland and I did a blood test for HIV and various other STI's at my local doctor's surgery exactly 14 weeks post exposure.
In ireland we have one centralised centre for infectious diseases and my blood would've been sent here for analysis.
I got the results last weekend and they were thankfullly negative. The doctor ensured me everything was fine but he said to confirm this negative at 6 months post exposure. The consensus seems to be that these further tests are not necessary. However, I am wondering if the irish method of testing is similar to say the UK or the USA whereby I can take a negative result at 14 weeks to be conclusive. I can't seem to be able to find this information on the web.
Can I put this worry to bed???
I would love a response when you get around to it.
Thanks a lot.
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Yes, you can have CLOSURE on that episode. Your 14 week test in Ireland is CONCLUSIVE. They use similar tests as the ones in the U.S. and other E.U. countries. Take care always.
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thanks very much beto.
where might I acquire this information???
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You should find the testing info in the Welcome Thread.
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I couldn't find testing info relating to european tests on the Welcome Thread.
Are the testing procedures uniform across EU countries.
It's just that I woke up today with a white tongue and I'm jumping to conclusions and thinking the worse.
Help
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B,
They use the same tests in Ireland as they do in the UK and the US. There are only so many manufactures of these test kits.
The window period in the UK and the rest of Europe is twelve weeks. You tested two weeks outside of that time frame and that means you are without doubt hiv negative.
The odds always were in your favour of testing negative anyway. It sounds as though you were never unprotected and even if you were, hiv is a fragile, difficult virus to transmit and more so from a woman to a man.
Please read through the condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms with confidence. Remember, you need to use them for anal or vaginal intercourse, every time, no exceptions until such time as you are in a securely monogamous relationship where you have both tested for ALL STIs together. To agree to have unprotected intercourse is to consent to the possibility of being infected with a sexually transmitted infection. That doesn't just go for sex workers, that goes with anyone you have intercourse with.
Ann
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Thanks Ann,
You're a rock for everyone.
Keep it up and god bless.
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For future reference, you may also find it worthwhile to read the lesson on Transmission as well as the one on Testing. You can find a link to them iin the Welcome thread at the top of this section.
Condoms provide very effective protection, so much so that testing was really unnecessary in relation to this recent incident. Keep using that latex everytime you have intercourse and you are covered both literally and figuratively.
And of course as you've already been told, 13 weeks is a reliable testing point for a conclusive result.
Cheers,
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andy,
thanks very much for your advice.
i can't say enough positive things about you guys and the site in general.
the clarity of the advice offered by yourself and the rest of the contributors is second to none. it certainly flies in the face of all the misinformation and wrong diagnosis you tend to find by trawling through search engines.
it's a truly noble thing you're doing
thanks a million
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Can somebody explain to me why medical health professionals insist that the reliable testing point from a conclusivity point of view is 6 months.
Is this 6 month thing a myth or what? It's very confusing.
In normality,I would take a doctor's word to be gospel. Are they misinformed or behind the times or what?
Is 13 weeks definitely a conclusive result??
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6 months was the old conclusive time by the CDC. The new time is 12/13 weeks depending on where you live.
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I am from Ireland.
I have been told on my thread by some of your colleagues that the testing methods in Ireland are similar/the same as those in the UK and the US.
So a negative test result at 14 weeks post exposure is conclusively negative??
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Yes
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Thanks very much. Happy Xmas.
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Hello all,
I was having a look at the CDC website and saw a statistic that 97% of people will seroconvert within the 3 month/13 week period.
It said that that in only very rare cases will people seroconvert past this point.
My curiosity is related to this 6 month testing thing. I was just wondering what circumstances would have to be in place to warrant testing at the 6 month post exposure mark??
Ie Is it needed for a healthy 22 year old with a strong immune system?
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The CDC only recommends testing to 6 months when intravenous drug use is involved or someone has a severely depleted immune system from cancer treatments or such.
And believe me, if you had a severely compromised immune system you would know it because the effects on your body are very apparent.
You have reliably tested negative for HIV. You ARE HIV negative. Period End of story.
Just remember to use a latex condom everytime you have intercourse and you'll be fine. No exceptions.
Cheers,
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Thanks Andy,
Happy St. Stephen's/Boxing Day.
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Good afternoon.
Just a quick question to put myself at ease.
I have just returned from the barber shop. I was having my hair cut. The lady used one of those razor blades to shave the hair on my neck. I had a spot/zit on the side of my neck and she nicked it. It began to bleed (not a lot) and she put some sort of an antiseptic swab on it. It looked like a sort of a reusable swab and she put it back on the counter for the next person that she cuts.
Is there a risk in the situation that I have described??
I would appreciate a response when one of you get around to it.
Cheers.
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b,
There is absolutely NO hiv risk in what you describe. Hiv is a very fragile virus and once it's outside the human body, the different temperature, moisture content and pH levels all quickly damage the outer covering of hiv and render it unable to infect. This outer covering MUST be in perfect condition in order for it to latch on to the very few, very specific cell types that it can infect.
Hiv is primarily transmitted INSIDE the human body, as in unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse. You need to be using condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, every time, no exceptions until such time as you are in a securely monogamous relationship where you have both tested for ALL sexually transmitted infections together. To agree to have unprotected intercourse is to consent to the possibility of being infected with an STI. Sex with a condom lasts only a matter of minutes, but hiv is forever.
Have a look through all three condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms with confidence.
Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!
Ann
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Hi Ann,
Thanks very much for your response. I really appreciate the advice as well.
I don't want to be bothering you with silly questions but I am genuinely worried.
So, what you are saying means that there is no risk with the razor that she used to cut my neck. But what about the antiseptic swab that she applied to me? It seemed to be in a tube and rather than being disposable, it seemed like it was reusable. The lady who cut my hair put it back on the counter after she had pressed it against the cut. There seemed to be a lot of alcohol in it. It stung really bad. Is there a risk that hiv could survive in this environment (i.e. on this antiseptic swab). Would the presence of alcohol be enough to kill it?
Cheers.
Thanks a lot.
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You were not at risk.
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Barbershop nicks and such as you have described are a very, very common occurrence. In the entire history of the epidemic there's never been a single documented case of transmission in such a manner. It's safe to say you aren't going to make history by becoming the first.
Just keep using right-fitting condoms everytime you have intercourse and you're essentially "covered" as far as HIV is concerned.
Cheers,
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Thanks very much guys.
Much appreciated!
Have a good evening.