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what extent does the length of exposure play to the transmissivity of the infection
25year old male in UK - had potential exposure to HIV 42 hours ago. I am trying not to think about the whole messy situation and adopt a sensible logical approach however it preys on the back of my mind being a worrier by nature and would welcome some reassurance.
I believe the vagina - penis transmission rate is typically 1 in1000. There is no guarantee that the (high-risk) girl in question is infected although i rate her likelihood at 50%. Hence this decreases the likelihood of me being infection to about 1 in 2000. I believe i was only exposed for 5-10 seconds (although can't be sure), after condom malfunction and believe this short period of time again reduces the probability of transmission (can you confirm this? To what extent does the length of exposure play to the transmissivity of the infection). Call it a 1 in 4000 chance now or 0.025% chance. (Do you think this reasoning seems reasonable?)
Based on this reasoning, i made an educated descision against PEP due to the relatively low risk of infection, the 50%-80% PEP effectiveness rate and because of the disturbance the side effects would have on my active day to day life. Obviously i will feel like an idiot if i turn out to be infected!
I intend to get tested for HIV after three months - i was thinking about getting tested say after 4 or 6 weeks for peace of mind - how accurate would these results be? I will also closely monitor my health for any symptoms that reflect acute HIV infection - I am rarely ill so any flu-like symptoms at all will increase my worry significantly! I also plan to get tested for other STD's (should I be more worried about these?) - how long after exposure should i get tested for other STDs? I am also struggling to find information on the typical transmission probability of these infections - could you please post these up.
I had some (existing) abrasions on my penis and eczema on my finger: both were in the process of healing - should i have been concerned about these and taken these into account when calculating my risk factor.
I believe the vagina - penis transmission rate is typically 1 in1000. There is no guarantee that the (high-risk) girl in question is infected although i rate her likelihood at 50%. Hence this decreases the likelihood of me being infection to about 1 in 2000. I believe i was only exposed for 5-10 seconds (although can't be sure), after condom malfunction and believe this short period of time again reduces the probability of transmission (can you confirm this? To what extent does the length of exposure play to the transmissivity of the infection). Call it a 1 in 4000 chance now or 0.025% chance. (Do you think this reasoning seems reasonable?)
Based on this reasoning, i made an educated descision against PEP due to the relatively low risk of infection, the 50%-80% PEP effectiveness rate and because of the disturbance the side effects would have on my active day to day life. Obviously i will feel like an idiot if i turn out to be infected!
I intend to get tested for HIV after three months - i was thinking about getting tested say after 4 or 6 weeks for peace of mind - how accurate would these results be? I will also closely monitor my health for any symptoms that reflect acute HIV infection - I am rarely ill so any flu-like symptoms at all will increase my worry significantly! I also plan to get tested for other STD's (should I be more worried about these?) - how long after exposure should i get tested for other STDs? I am also struggling to find information on the typical transmission probability of these infections - could you please post these up.
I had some (existing) abrasions on my penis and eczema on my finger: both were in the process of healing - should i have been concerned about these and taken these into account when calculating my risk factor.
You can only be the 1 in 1000 if your partner had HIV and that is most unlikely. Your partner is almost certain not to have HIV and, even if she did, your chances of getting HIV from a single exposure are less than 1 in 1000. Thus even before you got tested, your risk of HIV was probably less than 1 in 100,000, at most.
from the mouth of dr hook...expert here at medhelp.
from the mouth of dr hook...expert here at medhelp.
Got GUM clinic appointment in one hour. Spoke to Doctor, he agreed with my reasoning about 1 in 4000 chance. Doing PEP will decrease my chance to 1 in 20,000. Or 99.995% chance I am not infected. Better safe than sorry.
Hi,
Im sorry to hear your dilema. What area of England or UK you from?. Go to this website and pick the nearest GUM to you contact them to arrange an appointment a.s.a.p to seek advice:
http://www.drthom.com/
I would not delay as you may be qulaify for PEP if needs be [within 72 hours?].
Im sorry to hear your dilema. What area of England or UK you from?. Go to this website and pick the nearest GUM to you contact them to arrange an appointment a.s.a.p to seek advice:
http://www.drthom.com/
I would not delay as you may be qulaify for PEP if needs be [within 72 hours?].
having unprotected sex puts you at risk...whether the odds are 1 in 200,000 or 1 in 200. the only way to know your status is to test. a test at 6-8 weeks post exposure will give you a good indication of your status...but only a test at 3 months will give you a conclusive result.
we cant play the guessing game where hiv is concerned. test as planned.
we cant play the guessing game where hiv is concerned. test as planned.
Just saw your last post! Understand the anxiety - read mine...
Still its not a high risk I don't think - 5-10 seconds - I went bareback for anywhere around 10 minutes?! -Completely out of my mind...
Good luck.
Still its not a high risk I don't think - 5-10 seconds - I went bareback for anywhere around 10 minutes?! -Completely out of my mind...
Good luck.
Go for a full STD screen at 2 weeks. Use condoms. Then get tested for HIV at 3 months so you can put it behind you. Speak to the people at the GUM clinic they are the experts.
Learn from this anything can happen - a friend of mine has just had a kid from a one night stand. Now I'm not saying I hate kids - but he didn't want it - and although not a disease - that is now for life!
You've hardly any risk at all unless she is known positive, even then its a very small risk - so small that the UK has stopped advertising HIV messages on TV and just targets high risk groups.
Learn from this anything can happen - a friend of mine has just had a kid from a one night stand. Now I'm not saying I hate kids - but he didn't want it - and although not a disease - that is now for life!
You've hardly any risk at all unless she is known positive, even then its a very small risk - so small that the UK has stopped advertising HIV messages on TV and just targets high risk groups.
Should have mentioned she was African, new to the UK and was a sex worker.
I would appreciate Dr HHH's opinion on this matter.
I would appreciate Dr HHH's opinion on this matter.
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