How likely is it to catch HIV like this?

[Jack1231]

Heterosexual vaginal sex with a women who has HIV, can a guy get it from them?

I heard that it does happen but i can't understand how it would get in to the guy? aha

[nomorepanic]

Any unprotected sexual contact can lead to HIV

Why are you having these worries though?

[countrygirl]

From your posts it seems you are obsessed with HIV. Have you had unprotected sex or something that would put you at risk???

To answer your question it is possible during unprotected sex for the male to be infected as bodily secretions contain the hiv virus. SAliva is not a good carrier of hiv so you won't catch it from kissing but vaginal secretions can carry it and of course the best carrier is blood. The risk is not hight but it is there hence the advice to always use protection.

I am a little puzzled as to why you don't know this already as it is included in sex education in schools - are you very young???

---------- Post added at 22:19 ---------- Previous post was at 22:18 ----------

I have just read on your other post that you are giving blood on Monday so that tells me you are 18 or over.

As Nicola says why are you worried about hiv??

[Jack1231]

I had unprotected sex once and so now am worried if i have caught anything, even though it is unlikely she has anything and even more unlikely i'd catch anything. I just worry about every possibility lol, i don't know why i do, that's why i'm on here

[mikewales]

If the person you had sex with didnt have HIV, then you wouldnt catch it, nor would you get it from giving blood.

Probably the best thing is to go to your GP, tell them the worries you have and ask for a blood test for HIV, this will then put your mind at rest

[Jack1231]

Well i'm giving blood on monday and they do tests for all the main viruses anyway :)

[nomorepanic]

They won't be testing for HIV though

[Jack1231]

They test for HIV antigens, which is what you have when you have HIV? Also they test for Hep B&C, Syphillis and a fairly rare virus called H1NV or something, with every sample they take.

[nomorepanic]

What with general blood tests? are you sure?

[Humly]

I think he means when he gives blood. Not just a general blood test at the docs.

[Jack1231]

Yeah i mean when i donate blood on Monday they'll test me for HIV anyway

[countrygirl]

They do test donated blood in this way but they won't tell you the results its like pregnant women are tested for hiv but they are not given the results as its for monitering purposes so if you are obsessing about this then you do need to go and see your GP and ask for the hiv test. it needs to be at least 3 months after you had unprotected sex to get reliable result or it used to be may have changed recently so if your worrying about something recently then they will test now but then they retest at a later date. If you cannot face your Gp go to sexual disease walk in clinic at your local hospital but of you may see someone you know there! so better with your own GP.

[Jack1231]

I think it must've changed since you knew that, because they now write you a letter for further adivce if you've tested positive for anything

[nomorepanic]

Yeah i mean when i donate blood on Monday they'll test me for HIV anyway

ahhh ok sorry - thanks for explaining.

[Worried_Male]

they won't tell you the results its like pregnant women are tested for hiv but they are not given the results as its for monitering purposes

I have found this comment very confusing. Is the whole point of a HIV test for pregnant women to make the birth of the child as safe as possible?

So if a pregnant woman tests positive i don't understand why she wouldn't be informed for the sake of not passing it on to the child during birth?

[blondinou]

They screen all donated blood for viruses but will only contact you if something shows up, otherwise you won't hear from them. HIV can be transmitted through unprotected sex of any kind including oral, and vaginal from female to male. However the risk from this is lower than from unprotected anal sex. Even if the person you sleep with is HIV positive the actual risk of transmission is fairly low at about 1%. What do you know about this woman, is there any reason for you to think she is HIV positive? If you do then the best thing to do is go to a GUM/sexual health clinic, the notes they keep are kept separate from your other health records so no-one else needs to know and they are great at explaining all this kind of thing.

[Ian41]

HIV is passed on through bodily fluids anal mucus sperm blood and vaginal fluid from woman to man the virus is passed on through the uretha in the penis or through cuts under foreskin, safer if you are circumsized.
Blood testing is complicated because the tests are looking for the body's reaction to the virus at 28 post exposer you can get a duo test and they will look for antigens (that is protein that the virus produces) and antibodies (the body's reaction to the the antigens) after the body produces antibodies the antigens get soaked by the antibodies and they disappear so after about 6 to 12 weeks an antibody test is the only test that will tell you that your positive or negative.
If the person you had sex with was positive AND on meds then her viral load may be low or undetected so she would be less likely to pass it on. But the virus is not a easy virus to catch anal sex is a higher risk from man to woman or man to man. Woman to man very low indeed oral with ejac very low so long as your dental hygiene is good oral no ejac almost impossible again dental hygiene and precum not present.

[Aillie]

Women are now routinely tested for all blood borne virus ( HIV Hep C Hep B) in addition to syphilis and chlamydia / ghonnorea. They are always informed of results. As for giving blood, blood borne virus is tested for and individuals are always informed if there is a problem. Hope this helps

---------- Post added at 23:21 ---------- Previous post was at 23:20 ----------

Sorry should have mentioned women being pregnant women in above post !!

[Betsyboo9034]

Hi,
I spoke to my doctor about this awhile ago. I was having similar fears. She said that it is actually very difficult to catch HIV...it is a virus that dies very quickly, and it needs to be the 'right' circumstance. Hope this puts your mind at ease a little bit!