whats my risk?

[667121]

Hello doctors,thank you for taking the time to read my question,
i live in ireland on the west coast,7 months ago i had unprotected vaginal intercourse with a straight female in her early 40s after a night out,,i became very anxious because i never have unprotected sex,had urine test 1 month later for chlamydia, ghonorrea,herpes,gardenerella,no symptoms of anything when i tested.Test came back pos for gardenerella,
Went to my GP and he said not to worry and gave me zithromax for the gardenerlla,about 3 months after the encounter i also started to develop pain in my testicle so Gp sent me for an ultrasound which showed i had swollen epididymis,just told me to take anti inflamatries if the pain ever flared up,tha was fine i got slight pain from time to time but nothing serious,
About 3 weeks ago i developed a white tongue only no sore throat and no swollen glands,so went to GP again and said i was worried it was thrush and i was reading thrush is a symptom of hiv,he said no need to worry it looked like a small fungal infection and gave me oral daktarin gel for it,it was clearing up but the gel ran out after 3 days so its not gone fully,i have lost appetite and have slight constipation,im really anxious because i never had this white tongue before and it im worried its from my encounter 7 months ago,what would be your opinion on this matter?thank you.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Gla to help.  Take care.  EWH

[667121]

Thank you Dr for your quick reply and advice,i think ill take yours and my own doctors advice and stop worring about this,

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to our Forum.  the encounter you describe was very low risk for HIV.  While I am not sure of the precise rate of HIV among heterosexual women in Ireland, I am confident it is quite low.  Here in the U.S. fewer than 1 in 10,000 heterosexual women have HIV.  I suspect the figure is about the same in Ireland.  In addition, even if your partner had HIV, your risk of infection from a single exposure is less than 1 infection per 1000 acts of intercourse.  finally, rates are lower among older women (i.e. those in their 40s or older).  Taken together there is little risk for HIV from the encounter you describe.

None of the symptoms you describe raise concerns about HIV for me either. Oral Candida ("thrush") is common among non-HIV infected persons and, while somewhat more common among persons with HIV, in your case is most unlikely to represent HIV infection.  

I would urge you not to worry.  If my advice does not help sufficiently, then go get testing to show yourself that you did not get HIV.  I am confident that your thrush is not a reflection of HIV acquire in the encounter you describe above.  When your result is negative, then please believe the result.

I hope this comment is helpful to you.  EWH