Cunnilingus with Canker Sore, Mixed Signals & Testing and anxiety

[stubarnes123]

Dear Sir/Madam,

Here's my situation and I know that similar situations have been addressed - but I have a few other questions that have not been addressed specifically, so I figure I'd just provide the entire story.

I was in New Orleans with a stripper (so a partner of unknown status). I performed unprotected cunnilingus very, very briefly (perhaps 30 seconds or so) before I spat out my saliva (and thought to myself what the hell am I doing?). I had a canker sore in the back of my mouth near my molar.  She had no cuts, sores, etc..

We then had protected vaginal intercourse for a few minutes before I stopped. Condom remained intact. Guilt got the better of me (as I am currently in a relationship). This incident happened 60 days ago. Three days after the incident I got a full panel (came back clean for all STDs - HIV as well - but that's obviously too soon in relation to the incident). I purchased an OTC Ora-Quik test (the 20-40 minute gum swab variety) and performed that at day 30. Results came back negative for HIV antibodies. (Of course the instructions on the box say to only test at 3 months...but my anxiety has gotten the best of me, so I checked it out anyway).

Being at day 60 since the incident (the only "at risk" incident that I have been involved in (to my knowledge) for more than 12 or 13 years) I was conisdering getting another full panel and HIV blood work drawn and put this forever behind me. I called one of the hotlines to set-up an appointment and wanted to get an idea of the accuracy between an 8 week and a 12 week test. I was unfortunately told that really - the way to rule out all possibilities is to wait 6 months and get tested. I was told that the Ora Quick test would basically cover 6 months prior but that wouldn't be considered as a baseline for my incident 8 weeks ago - but, and here's a big but, really my incident while involving risk, following the guidelines - I should just have the typical once a year test.

So I'm sitting here thinking "I'm being told I was at risk" (despite most evidence and research saying that I'm not) however, my risk incident "doesn't warrant further testing, just the generic every year testing". Which is puzzling. Also, I was told that 8 week and 12 week testing would be pretty much the same - but really I need to wait 6 months... So I thought I had a good handle on things (including my anxiety) wanted confirm that testing at 8 weeks vs 12 weeks would be pretty close in terms of detection accuracy (just for my piece of mind - because I've read your reports and followed with research on the studies you mention, etc..) and I hung up the phone more confused and distraught than when I had placed the call to a state-level help line.

Thoughts?

[Jeff G]

Cunnilingus isn't a risk for HIV so you can put your mind at ease .

Hiv transmission doesn't stand a chance of happening via female genitals to mouth - there are just too many obstacles on the oral route.
The first obstacle is the mouth itself. The mouth is a veritable fortress, standing against all sorts of pathogens we come into contact with every minute of our lives. It's a very hostile environment and saliva has been shown to contain over a dozen different proteins and enzymes that damage hiv.
Hiv is a very fragile virus - literally. Its outer surface doesn't take kindly to changes in its preferred environment; slight changes in temperature, moisture content and pH levels all damage the outer surface. Importantly, it needs this outer surface to be intact before it can latch onto a few, very specific cell types and infect.
Which leads to the second obstacle. Hiv can only latch onto certain types of cells, cells which are not found in abundance in the mouth.
The third obstacle to transmission this way is having hiv present in the first place. The female secretion where hiv has been shown to be present is the cervicovaginal fluid. This fluid is actually a thick mucus that covers and protects the cervix.
The fluid a woman produces when sexually excited comes from the Bartholin's glands, located on either side of the vaginal opening. I have yet to discover one shred of evidence (and believe me, I've looked) that shows this lubricating fluid to have any more hiv present than other bodily secretions such as saliva, sweat or tears. Saliva, sweat and tears are NOT infectious fluids.
So there you have it. Once the results of the serodiscordant studies started rolling in, what we know about hiv transmission on the cellular level was validated. The only people who were getting infected were those who had unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse. Period. One of the three studies went on for ten years and involved hundreds of couples.

[Ann]

Stu,

To begin with, as Jeff told you, you did not have a risk in any of the activities you engaged in with the stripper. None whatsoever.

Next, it's unfortunate that whatever hotline you rang seems to be reading from a script that is ancient and outdated. The window period has been three months for quite a few years now.

In fact, the vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive by six WEEKS, with the average time to seroconversion being only 22 days.

A six week (or more) negative is highly unlikely to change, but must be confirmed at the three month point - when there has been a risk. You did NOT have a risk.

I'm giving you this window period information for future reference - it does not currently apply to you as you did NOT have a risk, therefore your results are not going to change regardless.

Here's what you need to know in order to avoid hiv infection:

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 sexually transmitted infections together.

To agree to have unprotected intercourse is to consent to the possibility of being infected with an STI. Sex without a condom lasts only a matter of minutes, but hiv is forever.

Have a look through the condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms with confidence.

ALTHOUGH YOU DO NOT NEED FURTHER HIV TESTING AT THIS TIME, anyone who is sexually active 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. 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!

Ann