Reinfection?

[gcr.mty.mx]

Hi everyone.

I met someone about a month ago and we have been dating and having fun.
He is recently diagnosed and scheduled to go on treatment today after completing all necessary lab tests.

I am hoping things progress but we'll see, time will tell.

Today I came back from the doctor and learned that a year into treatment I am Undetectable which is great news! bloodwork all normal.

However, I did ask is there was any risk of reinfection and the doctor said as long as we were having protected sex we should be fine, but he did say USE PROTECTION which of course is the way its happened. But the fact that he emphasized it kinda got me anxious.

How common is reinfection? Say oral sex, is it the same low risk of infection if im UD and he has a high VL? Then on the way out I remembered that I had a funny diarrhea for about a week (probably nothing to do with it) but I did get a little anxious.

I know there are pozzies that practice unprotected sex openly and with multiple partners at the same time. How common is reinfection?

Stay strong everyone!
G

[Jim Allen]

Look any doctor worth a damn is going to push for safer sex including condoms. This is a proven was to reduce STI risks and prevention is better than treatment, why complicate things with a co-infection.

As for superinfection - reinfection - Dual infection they all mean the same its highly rare to start with and doubted by some. https://www.poz.com/tag/superinfection

Look practical side to this: Instead of wondering/fearing "what if" or "what might be", if you are in a monogamous relationship than get tested together for other STI's/STD's beyond any window period and once you have both reached UD for 6 months + and remain on treatment than there is really only a negligible  risk of sexual HIV transmission to start with if you do ditch the condom.

In terms of HIV here is the consensus statement that may give you peace of mind. http://www.preventionaccess.org/consensus

Easy to read print on super-infection:
http://www.hivplusmag.com/treatment/2014/04/10/what-hiv-superinfection-and-how-do-i-prevent-it

Collection on the topic of super-infection
https://www.poz.com/tag/superinfection

Jim

Oh I and I moved you topic here in "how do I prevent HIV" as I feel the concern and question belongs better here. The other forum members can jump in and I am sure they will on your post its I am sure a topic others have wondered about.

[CaveyUK]

I know I'm repeating what Jim says but still...Best to save going condomless until you are in a stable, monogamous relationship where the risk of other STI's is significantly lower. That is why doctors recommend condom use but tend to relax the message for those in a long term one-on-one relationship.

As Jim says, it's getting co-infected with some other nasty that is the real risk here. Most are perfectly treatable but they can cause viral load spikes and in the case of infections which cause some sort of trauma to the skin (such as Syphilis) can actually increase the risk of you passing the virus on to others.

Reinfection is theoretically possible, should your partner have a high VL and a strain of HIV which is resistant to the drugs you are on, but in real terms the risk is incredibly small. That is why PrEP is so effective - the HIV drugs taken act as a protective measure in nearly all cases, although as you will know there have been a couple of extreme cases where people on PrEP do still contract the virus but it is very very rare.

Oral sex really isn't much of a risk at all, even if you weren't on treatment, so given that you are I wouldn't even worry about it.

Overall, I wouldn't worry in the slightest about re-infection. But whilst having sex with multiple partners, it is always sensible to use a condom to avoid any other infections.

[gcr.mty.mx]

Thank you Jim and Cavey,

We know for a fact that we are both 'clean' of other STIs as we had bloodwork done recently. Of course since we're both getting to know each other we're not taking chances so we are using protection.

My anxiety in this case was towards reinfection. We will keep playing safe until he is UD, if the relationship continues 

G

[Jim Allen]

We know for a fact that we are both tested 'clean' negative of other STIs as we had bloodwork done recently.

Small correction on your post.

Anyhow yeah both get UD and don't over stress about this, anyhow wishing you both the best and hope the relationship continues for you.

Jim

[Tonny2]

       OJO     HELLO "G"...CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR UD AND BLOOD WORK RESULTS...I HVE NOTHING ELSE TO ADD TO YOUR POST, I GUESS JIM AND CAVEY COVERED IT...I AGREE WITH JIM ABOUT THE "CLEAN" THING...BEST OF LUCK FOR BOTH OF YOU...HUGS                                                                                  OJO

[leatherman]

My anxiety in this case was towards reinfection.

reinfection is very rare. I doubt you'll be case #20 after 35+ yrs of HIV data collection.

there are a couple of points that always need to be made during a "reinfection"/"superinfection" conversation:

1. in most of the cases when someone HIV+ became infected with another strain of HIV, the reinfected person  had a high viral load (so they were already failing therapy or were not adherent to their meds) along with the other partner who also had a high viral load (because that's how transmission works )

2. don't forget, your antiretroviral regime will probably work as a prophylaxis against any incoming HIV, the same way PEP and PrEP work

summing up, UD means not only will you not transmit HIV but it also means that you have the proper levels of meds (and the proper low level of HIV ) in your system so that even if you are exposed to more HIV, and perhaps a different strain, you have a great deal of protection heading off "reinfection"(obviously it's pretty good protection since there have only been 19 cases )

[CallMeSid]

RE: "We know for a fact that we are both 'clean' of other STIs as we had bloodwork done recently."

Hmmm, it sounds like you had bloodwork done for syphilis?  Did you have the back of your throat and your rectum swabbed for gonorrhea and chlymadia?  Your urine can also be tested for gonorrhea and chlymadia, but if the clinic doesn't offer that test, your urethra will also need to be swabbed to test for these bugs.

I, for one, don't mind the use of the word "clean" to designate "disease-free".  I, for one, don't assume that I'm being called "dirty" when one uses the word clean in this manner.  The word "clean" is used in many contexts  -- a pre-
-employment background check can be said to have come back "clean".

Now, havng said that, I realize that some people find the use of the work "clean" in this context to be objectionable.  I try to cater to their sensitivities, but I don't lose sleep over it.  Again, just speaking for myself.

[Jim Allen]

Glad your okay with being diseased i suppose, and your more than welcome to feel that way.

But as its something that does cause offence to people and we know it does, particular those that have been called "dirty/unclean or diseased" and we have a lot of newbies here so let's leave the clean = disease-free is okay opinion/vocabulary at the door step. Also its read by the HIV negative readers so its good they are aware it can cause upset.

Thanks

Jim

[CallMeSid]

Thanks for the feedback.

What about "infected"?  Is the use of "HIV-infected" to mean "HIV-positive" acceptable?

Oh, and just because words are so important...

"...and your more than welcome to feel that way"

should, in fact, read "...and you're more than welcome..."

[Jim Allen]

There is no rule here on having perfect spelling or grammar and spelling was not the topic or the concern. Now if you want to discuss spelling go open a thread in off-topic. Knock yourself out, just don't do it here in this section or in this thread.

Anyhow you have been asked to drop it on the "clean" subject, and I will not be asking you again. I mean that.

Jim

[Tonny2]

Thanks for the feedback.

What about "infected"?  Is the use of "HIV-infected" to mean "HIV-positive" acceptable?

Oh, and just because words are so important...

"...and your more than welcome to feel that way"

should, in fact, read "...and you're more than welcome..."

        OJO       HELLO THERE...USUALLY I DON'T GET IN THIS KIND OF TOPICS, BUT I AGREE WITH JIM, YOU SHOULD START A NEW TOPIC ABOUT THIS "CLEAN" THING, HOPEFULLY YOU WILL HHAVE "CLEAN" HANDS TO START IT WITH...YOU ARE HIJACKING THE OP THREAD...I DO NOT LUKE EITHER THE "CLEAN" THING AND I DO NOT LOSE SLEEP OVER IT...I HOPE TO SEE YOUR NEW THREAD ON THE OFF TOPIC FORUM, LET'S SEE THE FEEDBACK YOU GET...HUGS, AH!, CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NUMBERS, YOU ARE "CLEAN", WELL, ALMOST "CLEAN" OF THE VIRUS                                                                                                      OJO   

[CallMeSid]

Yeah.

So, maybe focus on the main part of my message?

RE: "We know for a fact that we are both 'clean' of other STIs as we had bloodwork done recently."

Hmmm, it sounds like you had bloodwork done for syphilis?  Did you have the back of your throat and your rectum swabbed for gonorrhea and chlymadia?  Your urine can also be tested for gonorrhea and chlymadia, but if the clinic doesn't offer that test, your urethra will also need to be swabbed to test for these bugs.

Kthxbye!

[leatherman]

I try to cater to their sensitivities, but I don't lose sleep over it.

it's called empathy. maybe you should lose sleep over it.

personally, way back in 96 when I was in the hospital about to die literally everyone I knew (friends, family, work place, neighbors, the whole 9 yards) knew I was dying of AIDS. Oddly enough then, after I didn't die, everyone still knew I was HIV+. I've lived without a sense of stigma every since.

But what I have learned from the data compiled by HRSA, research, and  my personal experiences doing peer counseling and quality oversight is that many people with HIV are affected by stigma resulting in not testing, non-adherence, and/or falling out of care. Sadly the result of that can be death.

Just two years ago, we lost a member here (a man with a partner and 2 children) because of religious stigma had conned him into believing that prayer, not meds, would heal him from his "sin" of HIV. Over a dozen people that have been clients at my local ASO have died in the 6 yrs I've been there. All of them either didn't start meds or stopped meds  because of the stigma they faced from family, friends and churches here in SC.

I have a hard time understanding why so many people are "sensitive" about HIV, their status, their meds, and words like "clean, dirty, infected, positive, etc". Sometimes, especially after that stigma has been so bad that it destroys someone's life and leaves them dead, I do lose sleep over how to resolve this issue for others, so the needless deaths come to an end.