Am I Infected?

[superscareddude]

So I recently had to research on the topic of aids for school and it had me worrying about this.

I previously, about a year ago had sex with a sex worker. I obviously used a condom but im worried cause i remeber that at the time i had a cut on my penis shaft, which i believe had a bit of a scab, but some of it was peeled off/looked red/bloody even though if you were to touch it no blood was being left anywhere.  At no point did my penis head ever becoming uncovered, but when my penis slipped out of her, the condom went down exposing about half of my shaft, and im not sure if I made any contact with the part that was cut with any of her vaginal fluids. She also jerked me off with her hands which touched herself and me at somepoint. Can I have possible been effected by any of these possible things? This memory has really brought be anxiety the past couple days

[Ann]

dude,

You did NOT have a risk with the sex worker.

You do know that a person doesn't have to be a sex worker to have hiv, right? You should be using a condom with ANYONE, not only sex workers.

You only need to be tested if you're sexually active. If this time with the sex worker was your only incident of having sex, ever, in your life, then you really don't need to test. If that's what will give you peace of mind, go for it.

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 TO TEST FOR HIV SPECIFICALLY FOLLOWING PROTECTED INTERCOURSE, 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

[superscareddude]

So just to be clear, the cut couldnt have been infected by HIV from her fluids?

[Ann]

dude,

So just to be clear, the cut couldnt have been infected by HIV from her fluids?

Just to be clear, no.

Hiv can only infect a very few, very specific types of cells and these cells are not found in superficial cuts. For this same reason, fingering, even with cuts, hangnails or whatever, is not a risk for hiv infection.

You did the right thing and wore a condom. It doesn't matter that it slipped a bit when you withdrew. I hope you're wearing a condom with anyone you have anal or vaginal intercourse with.

If you can't bring yourself to believe me, go test, collect your negative result (unless of course you've been having unprotected intercourse you didn't mention - then all bets are off) and get on with your life. If you're sexually active, you should be doing this at least once a year anyway.

Ann