Worried of possible transmission risk

[Janmeunier]

Hello,
I appreciate all the work done on this forum in reassuring worried people such as myself. I have read through several different topics over the course of the past few days before deciding to ask a personal question as I can't seem to shake the irrationality off of my own experiences. My issue concerns an encounter I had with a female friend, I am male. During our hook up, which only led to fingering and a hand job, she had consistently bit my lip very hard, which resulted in small marks where fresh blood was present (no blood was dripping, leaking or smudged anywhere, just the outline of the cut was visible in red). Given this was around the middle of my lip, so not really surrounded by HIV inhibiting saliva, although I do imagine saliva was in contact, would there be a transmission risk should blood from her mouth directly touch the small cut. I am not sure if she was bleeding or not. I do also experience bleeding gums often, particularly after brushing teeth. Another question I have is do studies involving serodiscordant couples accurately reflect transmission risks/percentages of people with average to extreme viral loads, such as those who are newly infected and do not know their status. I imagine the majority of transmissions occur due to people unaware of their status but wouldn't those in a magnetic relationship be on medication that drastically suppresses their viral load, reducing transmission risk?
Thanks again for your time. I apologize for any formatting issues or if I didn't post my question in the right place, hopefully I followed everything correctly.

[Ptrk3]

No, you are not at risk of contracting the HIV from "lip biting," regardless of the status of your female friend.  The HIV simply has never been transmitted in the way you describe (any of the ways you describe).

Access this link to learn how the HIV is transmitted:

https://www.poz.com/basics/hiv-basics/hiv-transmission-risks

All available evidence indicates that an HIV positive individual who is on an antiretroviral regimen and has an "undetectable" (suppressed) viral load is highly, highly unlikely--if not completely unlikely--to communicate the virus to a sex partner.

Yes, an overwhelming amount of research indicates that the vast majority of HIV transmission is because the HIV positive a person is unaware of their HIV status or is otherwise (refusal, denial) not on an effective antiretroviral regimen.

No matter, if your only concern is over what you perceive to be a risk from the incident you describe in your post, you simply were not at risk.

Move on with your life.

[Janmeunier]

Thank you for the reassurance, last thing, I was wondering why leading HIV awareness/prevention sites such as the Body continue to propagate the notion that kissing with bleeding gums or a small cut is a risk for transmission. I've even seen them suggest getting tested. How can it be that doctors are unaware of the latest peer reviewed studies/what would be their reason to believe the risk. As I have OCD and can't discern between low risk and no risk, this lack of consensus terrifies me that given the right circumstances it is possible I could've contracted HIV. However, given all I've read on this site of peer reviewed studies and so forth I definitely lean towards the not possible side but was wondering where the contradiction by other doctors and experts comes from?

[Jim Allen]

I can't comment on the body or a specific site, However generally speaking stop reading utter shit online or stuff out of context

Kissing is not a risk, we know how HIV is and is not transmitted after 40 years. The mouth lacks route and the cells to infect , saliva contains no viable HIV, it's hostile towards HIV even.

If you want to believe "what ifs" so theoretical but never actually happened in the real world, than if bleeding it would have to be in large quantity, pure and you would need large activity open bleeding wounds of your own.

So unless your partner was beaten to a bloody pulp before kissing and you had a knife wound to the mouth you simple had no risk. Not even theoretical. If kissing was a risk the entire population would be HIV positive it's not.

Personally I hate sites and doctors that don't explain or put context around risks.  Yes, doctors are people and people make mistakes, or are outdated than to add some are just complete arses if you ask me.

Recently I was at a 30th national hiv conference with leading experts and we discussed why incorrectly after 4 decades of HIV and 30+ years of advanced research , science and education 25% of people still mistakenly think kissing is a risk.

It's not and it's in part I think people misreading information or sites hosting it without properly explaining it.

This is the type of myths and rubbish that make my life as a parent to two HIV negative children more difficult than it needs to be.

There is allot of misinformation on the internet and lots of opinions that get passed around as facts, We however rely on the latest scientific peer reviewed science for our assessments. This also gets fed back into the poz pages on transmission risks if needed and great effort is put into ensuring the message is clear.

Move on with your life, kissing is not a HIV risk and this is a risk assessment service, we have given you one. Like it or lump it either way move on from here, there is nothing more we can do for you. Would however suggest speaking to a therapist face to face to help you learn to cope with irrational fears.

Please do not post about this no risk scenario again, it will lead to a ban. The subject is closed.

Here's what you need to know in order to avoid hiv infection:
Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, every time, no exceptions.

Keep in mind that some sexual practices which may be described as ‘safe’ in terms of HIV transmission might still pose a risk for transmission of other STI's, so please do get fully tested regularly and at least yearly for all STI's including but not limited to HIV and test more frequently if unprotected intercourse occurs

Also note that it is possible to have an STI and show no signs or symptoms and the only way of knowing is by testing.

More information on HIV Basics, PEP, TaSP and Transmission can be found through the links in my signature to our POZ pages, this includes information on HIV Testing

Kind regards

Jim

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[Janmeunier]

I apologize for the continued irrationality, and I understand I was not at risk of HIV transmission but, two weeks after the incident I began having a mild sore throat with swollen tonsils and a very mild white cover on my tongue which feeds my fears. However, due to my inability to process uncertainty, I think I will be taking a HIV test next week. I will be able to do the POC rapid test here in Ontario and was wondering how accurate it would be 27 days after the incident? I know it is not conclusive by any means and preferably 6 weeks for a first test then 13 weeks for a conclusive result but I am unable to function due to my irrational fears. I dont see how a sore throat can be psychosomatic but I do understand there are a million other reasons why I could have one. I am sorry once again for the irrationality but I need peace of mind. My only question is how accurate would the Rapid POC test be at 4 weeks, this will also be my last post.
Thank you for everything you guys do. 

[Ptrk3]

Since you had no risk to begin with, I would consider any test that provides a "negative" result as conclusive--no matter the time frame--for the incident you describe in your original post.

You may wish to check with your healthcare provider to see if there are ways for you to better deal with your anxiety.

[Janmeunier]

Yesterday I was walking home at 1 am in the city when a homeless man who I am aware does drugs (he is always downtown) was bleeding. He was walking around and flailing as I crossed him and I felt some, what I am assuming to be blood, enter my eye. I had then walked past where he had gotten up from and saw quite a lot of wet blood on the floor, which tells me his wounds must have been quite bad. Do I have an HIV risk or should I put the event behind me? 

[Jim Allen]

Move on with your life.

[Janmeunier]

Thanks for the quick reply, just to be clear, in the presence of blood in the eye there wouldn't be any risk?

[Jim Allen]

The scenario you posted was no HIV risk whatsoever

If you keep having irrational fears about HIV speak to a therapist face to face to help you learn to cope with your thoughts.

Jim

[Janmeunier]

Thanks, I appreciate the advice and will try to move past this. Have a great day.