Possible exposure

[Cartongary]

Dear Drs

First this is a very excellent website and I have looked at the various posts before I post my question. My question will be similar to others that have been asked but I guess I would still like to ask mine so apologies in advance :-)

I am male and had sexual intercourse witha female Csw from Ukraine in UAE. There was a condom failure and I'd say I was unprotected from approximately 30 secs to 1 minute, but certainly no more.  On approximately day 10 or 11 I seem to have a slight head cold, no more than a slightly annoying sore throat which went away in approx 24. To 48 hours.

My questions are:

1) is what I describe a common hiv symptom?

2) is testing required for such a brief exposure? I would assume that the above is a significant risk and warrants testing? Either way I will get the hiv duo in 4 weeks time,.

Thanks in advance for your answer and keep up the good work! There's people all over the world who get valuable assistance from you guys,

All the best

GC

[Dr Sean Cummings]

Hello and as always, my apologies for the delay in responding.

You have asked:-


1) is what I describe a common hiv symptom?

No - typical early HIV symptoms include the near simultaneous appearance of a very severe sore throat, whole body rash and very high fever - all together. Your symptoms seem minor and unlike that.

2) is testing required for such a brief exposure? I would assume that the above is a significant risk and warrants testing? Either way I will get the hiv duo in 4 weeks time,.

Yes, you are correct. The overall chances of HIV acquisition from this are very low indeed - the calculated risk from unprotected vaginal insertive sex is 1 in 1000 per episode. In your case, the exposure is limited so the risk might be considered to be lower than that still.

You do need to test for HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B, chlamydia and gonorrhoea, kind regards, Sean

[Cartongary]

Hi doctor! Thanks for the reply, I understood from a previous post of another user that you were in a place with poor internet connection so was expecting a slight delay on your answer! I'm not sure if I'm allowed a follow up but here goes! 1) how long would the symptons last and what would be a high fever temp range! Thanks I'd advance!