POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: London61 on August 11, 2013, 09:26:58 am
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Hi, sorry if I seem a little paranoid but I did something really stupid last night and now I am really worried. I was at a festival and used the toilet at the end of the night. There was no toilet paper so looked around the floor and found some dis-guarded underwear. Anyway, I stupidly used this and am now really worried about the consequences. Not that it excuses it in anyway but I was very drunk at the time and have no idea how long they had been their etc. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.
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You are worrying needlessly. HIV is not transmitted via used underwear even it is dripping with blood, feces and/or semen. Nor are toilet seats, eating utensils, doorknobs and other ordinary objects of life potentially risky.
Excessive drinking is a good thing to avoid in the future. Too many people have been unable to function well in terms of avoiding unprotected anal and vaginal intercourse, which are the only confirmed risks for the sexual transmission of HIV.
This time you are worrying needlessly.
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Hi London . Who can blame you , you were stranded there .
HIV is a fragile virus and can not survive outside the human body for more than an
instant . You were never at risk in the situation you describe .
Here are the ways to contract HIV .
Sharing IV drug needles immediately after use.
Unprotected anal and vaginal sex.
Mother to child during or shortly after birth
Very specific healthcare situations.
Since you are here I will give you the standard message I always offer .
ALTHOUGH YOU DO NOT NEED HIV TESTING AT THIS TIME FOR THIS INCIDENT, 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. Some of the other STIs can be present with no obvious symptoms, so the only way to know for sure is to test.
Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!