POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: scaredguyy on July 19, 2006, 08:15:15 pm
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Hi,
I am so worried over an incident that happened a few weeks ago. My friends and I were in Vietnam and after getting a haircut we decided to get manicure and pedicure. Long story short, the pedicurist nicked my cuticle and it bled. The tools she used were her own and I didn't see her sterilize it before hand. I am so fearful that I might have contracted HIV from this incident. Please advise me on my situation. I am planning to test at 3 months. I read from the internet that it is possible to contract HIV from this and it is really freaking me out. Thank you for your time.
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Scared,
There is no way you were at risk from this incident. Hiv does not survive in a transmittable form on surfaces in the environment, and this includes on manicure equipment.
Hiv is primarily transmitted INSIDE the human body as in unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse. It is a fragile, difficult to transmit virus.
You do not need testing over this incident. However, if you are a sexually active adult, you 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.
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 STIs together. To agree to have unprotected intercourse is to consent to the possibility of being infected with a sexually transmitted infection.
Have a look through the condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms with confidence.
You did not have a risk of hiv infection. Please learn what is and isn't a risk so you can protect yourself in the future. Read through the Welcome Thread (http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=220.0) and follow the links for further information.
Ann