Condom broke in Thailand

[Footielad]

Hi guys

Having had a brief browse of the forums, I really admire what you guys do.

So here's my story.

I'm a healthy, mid-20s Straight British male on holiday with friends in Thailand.

17 days ago the condom split while I was having (drunk) penetrative sex with a Thai girl. I have no idea how long I was potentially exposed for - could be up to 15 minutes.

I have no reason to believe she was a sex worker given she bought her own drinks all night and wouldn't even let me contribute for her taxi home the next morning. Nevertheless, HIV is particularly rife in this area of Thailand (Chiang Mai).

After exactly 14 days I started to develop a fever and am now completely bed-bound by a number of potential symptoms. I have high fever, sore throat, muscle aches, fatigue, white tongue, nausea and diarreah. I'll add at this point that never in my life have I had such a bad fever and I can't remember ever taking a day off work or school for illness.

Last night I went to the local clinic here in Thailand and had a rapid test (negative) and an antibody test the results of which I will get on Tuesday.

I fully appreciate the reason why symptoms aren't discussed on this board, therefore I guess my main question is this - IF the my flu-like symptoms are HIV related, will it show up in the antibody test.

Thanks in advance for your help. I'm thousands of miles from home, absolutely terrified and with no-one to talk to. I've never felt so scared, vulnerable and alone.

[jkinatl2]

I have read your question carefully, and wish I could give a definitive answer.

Your risk was, if this makes any sense, on the lower side of high. HIV is a difficult virus to transmit from female to male.

If your symptoms were ARS, that would indicate that your body recognized the intruder and began producing antibodies. Now, the amount of time it takes to produce enough to register on an HIV test varies wildly from person to person.  Depends on an awful lot of factors, including specific strain of virus, your innate immune system, the generation of the test used.

Moderator Ann can, should, and will correct me if I am wrong, but if you want to spend the cash, a PCR test at this point might - might - be within the window of accuracy.  It's essentially a viral load test, and after the body produces antibodies to fight off the virus, it's usefulness drops dramatically. If your symptoms WERE ARS, then a week after there might not be enough viral particles to register. It's a gamble, which is why we are always very hesitant to recommend it. It's pro-level diagnosing, and even experts mess it up.

You can choose that route at this point, or you can do an antibody test at the six week point after the incident. That's the established window period for the most advanced generations of tests, even though the global standard remains three months. From a cursory web search it appears that most of Thailand relies on the three month window, and in my humble opinion so should you.

However, please understand that your risk, while legitimate, was not what we would call great. Not even particularly good. It's not outside the realm of possibility, but I would be a little surprised were you to be so unlucky after this one-time incident.

I certainly wish I could offer more definitive answers, but sadly I cannot. Please do what it takes to ease your mind while you wait (even of you take a PCR test you'd still want the antibody testing to be sure.)

 

[Footielad]

I’m back on here again and in similar circumstances.

A few weeks ago I gave an unprotected blowjob to a transsexual escort and she ejaculated in my mouth. My mouth is generally pretty healthy save for some slightly receding gums.

I wouldn’t be worried if now 22 days later I wasn’t up in the middle of the night with fever, night sweats/chills, sore throat and body aches.

I understand the risk is usually negligible and it’s flu season in the UK, but I’ve convinced myself again that I have HIV. Obviously a transsexual escort is pretty high risk even if the act is low risk - is there a chance I’ve been super unlucky?

Also FYI I used the PCR test last time and followed up at 6 weeks and 12 months. Should I do this again? 

[Jim Allen]

Obviously a transsexual escort is pretty high risk even if the act is low risk

Obviously irreverent... Anyhow moving on, your risk assessment:

Also FYI I used the PCR test last time and followed up at 6 weeks and 12 months. Should I do this again?

I’m back on here again and in similar circumstances.

Last time it was unprotected intercourse following a broken condom, this time its giving a BlowJob, vastly different activities not similar at all. 

No testing at all warranted over this encounter, and if you ever do have a risk requiring testing stick to standard antibodies testing, not PCR. 

See without gaping wounds or damage to your mouth this concern lacks the route (cells) to infect and on top of that the virus is very fragile, your mouth has dozens of protein and enzymes that damage the virus receptors rendering it unable to infect.  So no, we don't recommend testing over giving a blowjob at all, as there simply is no need to run test.

Just get tested whenever you happen to be due for your regular STI/HIV standard checkup

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. Consider starting PrEP going forward as an additional layer of protection against HIV

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 easier to transmit 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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As a member of the AM I Infected Forum you are required to only post in this one thread no matter how long between visits or the subject matter. You can find this thread by going to your profile and selecting show own post and it will take you here . It helps us to help you when you keep all your thoughts or questions in one thread and it helps other readers to follow the discussion. Any additional threads will be deleted.
 

[Footielad]

Thanks for the reassurance, Jim.

[Jim Allen]

You're welcome.

It's a near negelible concern that requires no running out to test, stress or panic. So relax, put it behind you, test whenever normally next due out of routine