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Concern about possible exposure and symptoms
So I am a happily married straight man, but for some reason made the stupid choice of hiring an escort in Northern Mexico.
Before we began we brushed out teeth (no flossing, just brushed).
We enganged in mostly unprotected oral sex, from her to me. About 5 minutes of unprotected oral sex from me to her (only her clitoris) and finally protected vaginal sex during which she peed on my pelvis and a very brief unsuccessful attempt to anal sex (like 30 seconds or so).
After we finished, we showered individually, even using diferent soap bars and towels. I checked with water the condom we used for vaginal and anal and it didn't break.
About 8 - 9 days after this I developed a light fever 99.32 F (37.4 C) which lasted about 10 or 12 hours, the fever came with a light headache (which was more light dizziness than an actual headache). Today, day 13 the fever has not returned since it went away, but this light headache/dizziness thing keeps bugging me. No other symptoms have occurred.
I know my exposure is considered low risk and that the likeliness of a sex worker to be infected is relatively low (in Mexico the prevalence of HIV in Female Sex Workers is 0.6%) and also that the only way to know if I am infected or not is through testing at 4 weeks and retesting at 3 months, but still I wanted some serious opinions on whether or not you think I should be concerned.
I have considered getting tested by PCR so I don't have to wait the entire window period, but I've heard that PCR can produce false positives, so that scares me a little.
Thanks in advance, I know you've probably seen this question a million times.
Before we began we brushed out teeth (no flossing, just brushed).
We enganged in mostly unprotected oral sex, from her to me. About 5 minutes of unprotected oral sex from me to her (only her clitoris) and finally protected vaginal sex during which she peed on my pelvis and a very brief unsuccessful attempt to anal sex (like 30 seconds or so).
After we finished, we showered individually, even using diferent soap bars and towels. I checked with water the condom we used for vaginal and anal and it didn't break.
About 8 - 9 days after this I developed a light fever 99.32 F (37.4 C) which lasted about 10 or 12 hours, the fever came with a light headache (which was more light dizziness than an actual headache). Today, day 13 the fever has not returned since it went away, but this light headache/dizziness thing keeps bugging me. No other symptoms have occurred.
I know my exposure is considered low risk and that the likeliness of a sex worker to be infected is relatively low (in Mexico the prevalence of HIV in Female Sex Workers is 0.6%) and also that the only way to know if I am infected or not is through testing at 4 weeks and retesting at 3 months, but still I wanted some serious opinions on whether or not you think I should be concerned.
I have considered getting tested by PCR so I don't have to wait the entire window period, but I've heard that PCR can produce false positives, so that scares me a little.
Thanks in advance, I know you've probably seen this question a million times.
You had PROTECTED vaginal sex and PROTECTED (attempted) anal sex and the condom did not fail. You had NO RISK FOR HIV and do NOT NEED TO TEST.
Testing a condom with water is not necessary as you will have no doubts when a condom has failed. They do not get little holes or tears, they fail catastrophically.
Your only risk was for STD's from the unprotected oral sex. I would suggest you have a full STD panel done. It is recommended that ANYONE who engages in unprotected oral have a full panel done every three months for prevention.
As for your symptoms, they have nothing to do with HIV, and I would suggest you consult your doctor.
Certain types of PCR tests can sometimes be helpful in diagnosing primary HIV infection prior to the development of detectable levels of anti-HIV antibodies in the blood (seroconversion). However, PCR tests should not be used for routine HIV screening, due to the level of false-positives.
The rate of false-positives depends on the type of PCR test. For HIV RNA PCR, false-positive tests occur between 2% and 9%.
You can take a 4th generation DUO test at 28 post possible infection. This will NOT be a conclusive test, but will give you a good indication of your status. A confirmatory test at 84 days will give you conclusive results.
Any HIV testing you undergo will be only for the purpose of your peace of mind as you never had a risk and have no need to test.
Testing a condom with water is not necessary as you will have no doubts when a condom has failed. They do not get little holes or tears, they fail catastrophically.
Your only risk was for STD's from the unprotected oral sex. I would suggest you have a full STD panel done. It is recommended that ANYONE who engages in unprotected oral have a full panel done every three months for prevention.
As for your symptoms, they have nothing to do with HIV, and I would suggest you consult your doctor.
Certain types of PCR tests can sometimes be helpful in diagnosing primary HIV infection prior to the development of detectable levels of anti-HIV antibodies in the blood (seroconversion). However, PCR tests should not be used for routine HIV screening, due to the level of false-positives.
The rate of false-positives depends on the type of PCR test. For HIV RNA PCR, false-positive tests occur between 2% and 9%.
You can take a 4th generation DUO test at 28 post possible infection. This will NOT be a conclusive test, but will give you a good indication of your status. A confirmatory test at 84 days will give you conclusive results.
Any HIV testing you undergo will be only for the purpose of your peace of mind as you never had a risk and have no need to test.
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Thank you for your response, you seem very well informed.
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