Sharing Food

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Hi Ann

Here is my exposure details..

1. Had a massage from a girl (not sure sex worker or not) which ended with a handjob. the handjob was a little rough and left my penis a little sore. She had repeatedly rubbed the tip of the penis during the massage. However I did not see any blood.

2. 2 days after that, in a bar in Manila, a sex worker my group was sitting with, took a bite from a piece of water melon and fed me the rest of the piece. I have had some detal crowning work about 8 days prior to this and still had some soreness in my gums, however there is no bleeding from my gums while brushing or otherwise..Do not know the status of that sex worker's dental hygine...

There was no genitals to genitals contact in either cases.

Is there any exposure to HIV here.. Do I need to be worried (havent been able to sleep for last 3 days )..

thanks..

[Andy Velez]

You are worrying needlessly about HIV. It is not transmitted in any of the ways you are concerned about.

Sexually the only confirmed risks for the sexual transmission of HIV are unprotected vaginal and anal intercourse. As long as condoms are properly used for those activities you will be well protected.

It is not passed by hand or on environmental surfaces such as food, doors, kissing, touching, drinks, toilet seats, towels or any of the many things people mistakenly worry about.

There is no need for testing this time nor for further concern on your part. 

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I know I shouldnt belabor these questions too much since they create doubts for subsequent members who read this, so the very last question on this ...

You mention that HIV cant be transferred via sharing food.. Does that hold true even if the sex worker bit into the piece of fruit and fed me the remaining piece in a matter of seconds. I mean, if her mouth had some bleeding and that transferred some of that blood in the saliva  to the piece of fruit, which i had a couple of seconds later.. Now as I said, I had some dental work done a week prior to that which still has left some soreness in my gums. Does that still exclude any chance at all for HIV transfer.

[RapidRod]

HIV is not transmitted from eating afer anyone with HIV.

[Ann]

Con,

Hiv is a fragile, difficult to transmit virus that is primarily transmitted INSIDE the human body, as in unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse where the virus never leaves the confines of the two bodies.

Once outside the body, small changes in temperature, and pH and moisture levels all quickly damage the virus and render it unable to infect. For this reason, hiv on food is hiv outside the body. It cannot infect you. It will NOT infect you.

Here's what you need to know in order to avoid hiv infection:

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 without a condom lasts only a matter of minutes, but hiv is forever.

Have a look through the condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms with confidence.

ALTHOUGH YOU DO NOT NEED TO TEST FOR HIV SPECIFICALLY OVER ANY OF THE SITUATIONS YOU BRING TO US, anyone who is sexually active should be having a full sexual health care check-up, including but not limited to hiv testing, at least once a year and more often if unprotected intercourse occurs.

If you aren't already having regular, routine check-ups, now is the time to start. As long as you make sure condoms are being used for intercourse, you can fully expect your routine hiv tests to return with negative results.

Don't forget to always get checked for all the other sexually transmitted infections as well, because they are MUCH easier to transmit than hiv.

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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Thanks Ann for your comforting words. In last 20 years of a flourishing monogamous relationship, the above mentioned 2 risks are the 1st (and absolutely the last) instances of judgement failure on my part. But still, will definitely take your advice on regular testing and checkups..

thanks once again.. God bless you...