Question and Answer Board

Boyfriend 4 years ago we had sex but he did wear a condom and he gave me few times oral sex. Flu 5 mos after.

If the condom you used did not slipped or breaks, the risk of HIV being passed on is very low. The important thing is that there has not been any exchange of body fluid. As for oral sex, when oral sex is performed on you are exposed to someone’s saliva. Saliva is not considered infectious for HIV. There would be a slight risk only if there was blood in the saliva or the person had sores in the mouth.

With regards to your flu, cough, fever and rash 5 months after the sexual contact, these are signs sometimes observed with a recent HIV infection which occur in the two to six weeks after the infection. Please keep in mind that these symptoms are very general rather than specific to HIV and it just might have been the flu you had.

HIV infection may not give any signs or symptoms for eight to ten years.
People who have HIV infection live pretty normal lives. Treatment for HIV can really make a difference in the outcome of the infection. That is one advantage of being tested and knowing one way or another.
 
 If you feel this information does not reassure you, then testing to rule out HIV might be what you need. I would be happy to help.

As always, I encourage the consistent use of condoms and safer sex practices for anal, vaginal and oral sex.

I was with a prostitute in Bangkok. We did not have intercourse - I did put my fingers in her vagina and anus - my fingers had some dry skin chaffing (no bleeding) at night she started to give me a blow job - as soon as I realized there was no condom I stopped her. We also kissed twice before any contact as listed above. I do not know if she is HIV positive - what are my risk levels? What else could I catch from such contact?

There are different aspects to your situation. First, there is no doubt that the sexual partner represents a high risk contact. As you know sex trade workers have many sex partners and often engage in injection drug use as well,  which are two risks for getting HIV, sexually transmitted diseases and other blood diseases such as Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.

Second, the exposure of your fingers to her vaginal fluid and anus would not be much of a risk unless your skin was not intact ie,eczema,cuts,wounds where the virus present in the vaginal fluid could have entered your body. If your skin was not intact there would still be a very low risk.

Third, as far as the kissing and oral sex or “blow job” is concerned, since oral sex was performed on you, you have been exposed to the other person’s saliva. Saliva is not considered a body fluid which can transmit the HIV. However, if the person had bleeding of the gums or sores in the mouth, exposure to her blood, there would be then a very low risk of getting HIV.

Other sexually transmitted diseases which may be passed on with oral sex could be gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, hepatitis B. You should probably consider testing to rule possible infections. As always, we advise consistent use of condoms both for vaginal, anal and oral sex.

I hope this information helps. If you have further questions and/or wish to be tested, you may contact the HIV Anonymous testing line at 506- 643-7404 (Monday to Friday), speak with your family physician who could order those tests for you or call the STI info line at 1-877-784-1010

I slept with someone nine months ago, after a couple weeks the person called me and told me what will happen if told you that I had aids. so I went tested after 8 weeks the result is negative, but now i am having some fever at night.Do you think I got aids.I have ever slept with anybody yet since then.

What are the chances of a mother having hIV and her child not been born with it, if the mother did not brestfeed. If you have intercourse with someone you never new might have HIV and found out later but never got tested had no signs of anything in 10 years > are there statistics of people in that situation not contracting Hiv.the child is now four with nothing no signs or the mother

Thank you for your question.
From what you are describing, it sounds unlikely that you have contracted HIV. If you have not experienced anything in 10 years and your child seems to be healthy, chances are that you are fine. However, I would suggest you read the following information:

The risk of getting infected with HIV following a one time intercourse is quite low (Although possible). Obviously the risk would be more significant, if there were more sustained and regular unprotected intercourses during the relationship. The chance for an unborn child to be infected from her mother’s HIV infection is about 27%, if the mother receives no anti-HIV medication during pregnancy and at time of delivery. The risk decreases to 2% to 3% with Anti-HIV treatment.

Please note that a person who is infected with HIV has the legal obligation to inform their sexual partners of their infection prior to having sex. If you are sure of the information you have received about your previous partner and you feel your rights have been violated, you can speak to a lawyer about it.

The advantage of being tested are: 1) if your test result is negative (which is likely the case), it would give you peace of mind that you have not been infected and therefore your child is fine as well ; 2) if the test is positive, you and your child could have access to helpful treatment.

An HIV test is a blood test that your family doctor can prescribe for you or you can contact the Public Health HIV testing clinic at 506-643-7404. The clinic is located on the first floor of the Mercantile Center in Saint John.
Hope this helps!
Lucie Audet RN,BN
Public Health Nurse
506-643-7404

I recently had unprotected sex with someone, under the influence of alcohol. Immediately I acknowledged that this person has not been tested and could potentially be infected with HIV. I douched after this to clean everything, but still know I am at high risk. Is there anything else I can do to avoid infection or should I have to

wait and get tested later on?

If you are very concerned that this person may be at high risk of being infected with HIV, you may want to go to the Emergency room and discuss
your concerns with a physician. There exists medication that can be given to people who have had high risk exposure and at high risk of
being infected with HIV. Usually, it is best to get the medication soon after, I mean even hours after the exposure.
You should also consider testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections now. Testing can be done at Sexual health center 55 Union St,
Saint John ( 658-3998) or at AIDS Saint John on Tuesday PM. If you are tested for HIV now (i.e.days after the contact)the test would not detect
if you were infected from that incident but it would let you know your current HIV status. After a risky contact, HIV can be detected in the
blood starting 6 weeks after the risky contact. If test is negative, then there is a need to repeat the test 12 weeks after ( usuallly 95% of
infection would be detected at that time) If test result is negative after 12 weeks then repeat 6 months from the incident. If test is
negative after 6 months, this indicates that the person is probably free from of HIV infection.

Washing up after having sex may help decrease the risk of infection. The HIV transmission guidelines published by the Canadian AIDS society
discourages douching since it can compromise the normal protection from germs in the vagina. I hope this helps. If you have other questions or
comments, I can be reached at 506-643-7404 (Lucie)

About two years ago I had sex with a boy without a condom (stupid, I know, I regret it.)

Now, I do have stomach problems sometimes but I've had that long, long before I ever had sex. But now I have pain in my chest and I don't know what it is, there is no coughing or anything coming up it's just this dull pain that sometimes gets worse when I eat or inhale. I also got these rashes on my hands which I attributed to my cat liking to bite and play with them, but then again I also sometimes get unexplainably lightheaded...

Am I just being a hypochondriac or should I be tested for HIV?

To whom it may concern,

From what you are describing your symptoms are not very typical of an HIV infection. You seem to have another rational explanation for almost
all your symptoms. The risk of getting infected from one contact is not that high (although possible). You are certainly the best person to
determine the source of those signs and symptoms. It sounds like you might be concerned about that encounter. You might benefit from having a
test to reassure yourself that you are not infected. You can call 658-3998 at Sexual Health Centre or AIDS Saint John at 652-2437 for
testing on Tuesday PM.

I had a lap dance recently, the onlything I did sucked the dancers breast, please tell me if this will infect me.

My question is if the breast is already infected (by dancer squeezing herself after touching the vagina) and me then sucking will it cause infection to me. Although she did not do this before me Please answer, if I need to get a check how much minimum time required and after how long will the test result will be given and the test name which can be done

If I understand the situation well, the concern is about contact between a person's mouth and with a female's vaginal fluid on her breast. In this situation, I would say there are two things that makes it extremely unlikely for a person to be infected with HIV from this exposure: a) the fact that the contact was not directly with the person's genital and vaginal fluid b)the fact that the saliva of a person helps inhibit HIV if a body fluid such as semen or vaginal fluid goes into a mouth. Again, It would be extremely unlikely to get an infection from this exposure.

A blood test for HIV can be done about 6 weeks after the risky activity. After 12 weeks, we would be able to detect most cases (95%). If done too soon, The test will not be able to detec HIV even when the person is infected. Testing is available at HIV Anonymous testing line please call for an appointment at 643-7404.