My Concern-- Menstrual Blood Please Help

[vik162]

Dear Aidsmeds friends,

I had recently visited a CSW here in South East Asia. To start, she performed unprotected oral on me. Then I had performed cunnilingus on her for maybe a minute or two. After which, we proceeded to protected vaginal sex. It was only after 5 minutes or so did I notice that blood was all over my shaft and on my abdomen. It seemed that she had started her period during this, since during oral I did not encounter blood. At any rate, I withdrew and washed off a few moments later. I even filled the condom with water to check for leaks and thankfully there were none. The presence of blood really scared me. She then finished me via handjob.   Perhaps you could please enlighten me concerning the following:

1. I am very concerned with the menstrual blood via cunnilingus. I had wisdom teeth removed three weeks before. Does this put me at a great risk for HIV?

2. Could blood from my fingers in handling the condom or her genitals and inadvertently touching my penis put me at risk at HIV? Could her handjob at the end with traces of blood assuming she didnt wash thoroughly have infected me?

3. She provided the condom, which was a locally distributed brand. I saw however that the ones we used conformed to WHO standards and ISO 4074 as per the packaging. It also states they were made by the Thai Nippon Rubber Industry Corp. They were not expired and the one we used passed my water leak test. Can I trust that the condom did not fail? I usually go with Durex or other international ones for the level of confidence.

4. What about the blood on my pubic area and abdomen. There was blood on them, quite grizzly. Does this put me at risk? I am not aware of any open wounds, at least none of the size that I noticed or aware of.

4. Have any of you encountered reports that an infection occurred in any of the scenarios I had described?

Thank you Aidsmeds, I usually refer to your site for guidance from time to time. But this one really scared me. I am hoping for your quick and honest response.

Cheers

[jkinatl2]

Hello! Thanks for bullet-pointing your questions. I will answer them the same way

1) Short answer is NO. Cunnilingus, menstruating or not, is not a risk. Your saliva contains over a dozen identified elements that render HIV inert.

2) Touching blood and then handling your penis is not a risk as HIV cannot remain viable outside the human body. HIV needs to infect within the confines of the human environment - it's the biggest weakness in the transmission process.

3) Any Latex condom will suffice, so long as it doesn't break. And the industry standard is a double-dip of latex at opposing angles in order to disrupt a "grain" where small holes could form. The condom is designed to fail catastrophically when it does, to maximize the chance of detection and correction. It's an elegant design that the CSW uses to protect HER primarily from YOU. She has a vested interest in keeping your condom safe.

4) Blood on your abdomen is immaterial. The amount of open "wound" required here to transmit HIV would involve a deep tear or gash in your skin. An EMT, for example, responding to a car accident, who gashes his own arm while reaching into a car to assist someone with a gushing wound would be at risk. You were not.

5) I have not encountered any documentation that supports infection through the routes and circumstances described. Anecdotally, having done risk assessment here on AIDSMEDS for ten years, the only people who have ever seroconverted and posted in AM I INFECTED had extremely high risk routes (unprotected anal and vaginal sex.)

This is, to the best of my determination, NOT an HIV situation.

[Jeff G]

Hi Vic , I have read your concerns carefully and I didn't see anything you mentioned that was a risk for HIV .

1 . Cunnilingus isn't risk for HIV and even if there was a bit of blood there are dozens of enzymes and proteins in your saliva that renders HIV unable to infect . There have been no fewer than three separate serodiscordant couples studies (where one person is HIV positive, the other negative.) These couples were tracked for three. five and ten years. The couples used condoms for penetrative vaginal and anal sex, but NO BARRIER at all for oral sex. Any kind of oral sex. These studies yielded NO infections.

2 . 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, bodily fluids outside the body do not pose a risk and that means masturbation is not a risk for HIV infection.

If you read my two replies they apply to all your questions so I will add this to help ease your mind . 

ALTHOUGH YOU DO NOT NEED TO TEST FOR HIV TESTING AT THIS TIME FOR THIS INCIDENT , anyone who is sexually active should be having a full sexual health care checkup, 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 checkups, 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!

[vik162]

Thank you for the replies guys! Just typing through this forum and reading your replies helps me breathe easier. For that I am grateful.

I hope I can put this behind me. Seeing blood in the heat of the moment really throws one off. Andy and Ann any thoughts? Please feel free to  any chime in I would also like to hear from you two.

Cheers

[Ann]

Vik,

I agree with Jeff and JK. You didn't have a risk and you don't need to test over this specific incident.

However, as a sexually active adult you should have a full sexual health check-up at least once a year, or more often if you're very active. It's what responsible adults do to look after their health. It's no different to going to your dentist once or twice a year for a check-up.

Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!!!

Ann

[vik162]

thank you ann, and sorry for this follow up question guys,

if i got her menstrual blood on my hands and rubbed my eyes, (i just realized i do this unconsciously), would i still be ok? still no test for this specific incident? do people get hiv this way?

thank you so much

[Andy Velez]

Vik, HIV is a very fragile virus. It is not transmitted via blood, menstrual or otherwise, on your hands to your eyes. When exposed to the air its viability is quickly compromised by small changes in temperature and pH and moisture level.

You are worrying needlessly. Cut it out and get on with your life. Really.