Sunday, November 26, 2017

🏳️‍🌈✝️ Risk of Superinfection?






11/26/2017


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I do not usually weigh in on these articles found on theBody.com but this one is very near and dear to my heart. I am NOT a doctor however I am a PERSON who acquired HIV through ORAL SEX. So every time I hear anyone in the HIV world especially in the medical field tell someone that the risk for HIV Infection is almost nothing when performing oral sex, I CRINGE!!! The RISK may be low according to ALL the RESEARCH STUDIES, however the RISK IS STILL THERE. Please DO NOT TAKE it lightly when you see articles like this.

You need to RESPECT yourself enough to PROTECT yourself from HIV and other STD'S.

Check out my blog post entitled Love and Understanding to learn more about my experience with finding out I was HIV Positive.

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Risk of Superinfection?

Apr 1, 2017
My boyfriend is HIV+ and his viral load is undetectable. I gave a blowjob to my boyfriend recently. The duration was about 1 to 2 minutes. Before i sucked his penis, i removed all the precum with a tissue. Also, during the blowjob, i kept washing my mouth with water (because we had oral sex in a toilet). My mouth and his penis didn't have any observable cuts or bleeding gum and he didn't cum in my mouth. 

However he told me that one week before our oral sex, he had unprotected anal sex with others. My questions: 1) Is it possible that he was reinfected with different strain of HIV and the strain has drug resistance to Atripla, which my boyfriend is taking. 

2)If he was really reinfected one week before our oral sex, was I exposed to high risk of HIV infection? He is taking the pills everyday but i am still worried about the transmission of the drug resistant strain. Thank you for your attention.


Response from Mr. Jacobs

Hi there - Thank you for writing in with a great question. Based on your description of the events above, your risk of having acquired HIV is nearly zero. Here is why: 

(1) Your partner's chances of acquiring a resistant strain of Atripla are exceedingly low. It is estimated that less than 1% of individuals living with HIV carry strains of HIV resistant to the medications in Atripla (http://betablog.org/dr-robert-grant-weighs-in-after-the-first-case-of-failed-prep-what-does-it-mean/). For him to have encountered this rare strain is quite unlikely. 

(2) Although there is still very limited information about "superinfections", the small research available suggests that your partner being undetectable would protect him from any infinitesimal risk that may come from exposure to this rare strain (https://wwwn.cdc.gov/hivrisk/what_is/hiv_superinfection.html). 

(3) Even if he was carrying a detectable viral load, then oral sex, without cum, still puts you at zero risk of acquiring HIV. Oral sex with cum is considered to be extremely low-to-no risk, less than .04% (https://www.poz.com/article/HIV-risk-25382-5829

When in doubt, an HIV test will give you the answers you seek. If you continue to worry about acquiring HIV, you may wish to talk with your provider about pre-exposure prophylaxis, aka "PrEP," a daily pill that reduces your chance of acquiring by 99% or greater. You can learn more about PrEP here at the Body.com: PrEP

Read more articles from The Body, here.


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