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Suggest Tests To Detect HIV After 3 Weeks Following Sexual Exposure
Question: Hi doctor,
I'm a male 23 years old, a week ago I had unprotected oral sex (blowjob) with a sex worker (about 10 minutes) followed by protected vaginal intercourse and again unprotected oral sex for as long as before and she finished me by hand (sorry for details). Since then I'm extremely worried that I might have caught something serious such as Hepatitis B or HIV. I've read a lots of topics in the Internet and not all of them seem to agree some say no risks others say the risk is real. I can barely get any sleep since then I've been feeling that I screwed up my whole life for something I'm not even proud of and the fact that I have to wait 3 months before having conclusive test results is stressing me even more I can't get on with my life for 3 months with this anxiety. I'd like to have a medical opinion on my exposure and what tests can I do before the 3 months mark to help me get relief. Thank you doctor.
I'm a male 23 years old, a week ago I had unprotected oral sex (blowjob) with a sex worker (about 10 minutes) followed by protected vaginal intercourse and again unprotected oral sex for as long as before and she finished me by hand (sorry for details). Since then I'm extremely worried that I might have caught something serious such as Hepatitis B or HIV. I've read a lots of topics in the Internet and not all of them seem to agree some say no risks others say the risk is real. I can barely get any sleep since then I've been feeling that I screwed up my whole life for something I'm not even proud of and the fact that I have to wait 3 months before having conclusive test results is stressing me even more I can't get on with my life for 3 months with this anxiety. I'd like to have a medical opinion on my exposure and what tests can I do before the 3 months mark to help me get relief. Thank you doctor.
Brief Answer:
very unlikely to get HIV or Hepatitis B from oral sex.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome to health care magic.
I have read all your story and narration as said by you and will give you the answer.
First of all, I would like to tell you that HIV and STDs infection occurs only when our mucosa linings in the mouth, vagina, penis or rectum come in contact with blood or bodily fluids (such as semen, vaginal fluid and rectal fluid) that can contain HIV and STD virus.
Here in your case,if there was no cut or scratch or even bruise on your genitals skin or to the oral cavity of that sex worker, then you need not to worry about HIV infection.
Since you had done oral sex unprotected but still if there is no direct contact of body fluids (like semen,vaginal fluid) to the mucosal surface of the body.
Also, the fact that by means of oral sex, chances of spreading HIV or hepatitis B is very less since saliva very very rarely contains HIV or hepatitis b virus. So, I do not think there is any chance of getting HIV or even any other STDs.
However, You can go for 'Ora Quick home test' for peace of mind after 3 weeks following exposure.
Ora quick HIV home test is a recent rapid diagnostic test to detect HIV infection which has 95% sensitivity.
It acts by detecting antibodies present in oral cavity in saliva. If the result comes negative (which is likely in your case) then there will be no requirement of any other test.
For hepatitis B,you will have to wait for at least 3 months since the incubation period of Hepatitis B varies from 2 months to 4 months. After that you can do serum HBSAg test.
But As I said earlier, it is very unlikely to get HIV or Hepatitis B from oral sex.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Dr.Sandip Kabra
very unlikely to get HIV or Hepatitis B from oral sex.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome to health care magic.
I have read all your story and narration as said by you and will give you the answer.
First of all, I would like to tell you that HIV and STDs infection occurs only when our mucosa linings in the mouth, vagina, penis or rectum come in contact with blood or bodily fluids (such as semen, vaginal fluid and rectal fluid) that can contain HIV and STD virus.
Here in your case,if there was no cut or scratch or even bruise on your genitals skin or to the oral cavity of that sex worker, then you need not to worry about HIV infection.
Since you had done oral sex unprotected but still if there is no direct contact of body fluids (like semen,vaginal fluid) to the mucosal surface of the body.
Also, the fact that by means of oral sex, chances of spreading HIV or hepatitis B is very less since saliva very very rarely contains HIV or hepatitis b virus. So, I do not think there is any chance of getting HIV or even any other STDs.
However, You can go for 'Ora Quick home test' for peace of mind after 3 weeks following exposure.
Ora quick HIV home test is a recent rapid diagnostic test to detect HIV infection which has 95% sensitivity.
It acts by detecting antibodies present in oral cavity in saliva. If the result comes negative (which is likely in your case) then there will be no requirement of any other test.
For hepatitis B,you will have to wait for at least 3 months since the incubation period of Hepatitis B varies from 2 months to 4 months. After that you can do serum HBSAg test.
But As I said earlier, it is very unlikely to get HIV or Hepatitis B from oral sex.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Dr.Sandip Kabra
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Arnab Banerjee
Thank you doctor, it appears that I didn't have any cut in my penis but it was sore (it's always sore after extended intercourse) would that increase the risk ? Also I read about HIV RNA test for early detection at 11 days after exposure and Hep B PCR Qualitative test at 3 weeks, it's expensive but I'm willing to take them if it will clear my mind, are those tests reliable and what's your advice on taking them ? I can't thank you enough for your time
Brief Answer:
Soreness over penis without cut injury does not cause any risk of HIV.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thanks for the posting query on health care magic,
I have read your query again and understand the concern.
Merely soreness over penis without cut injury does not cause any risk of HIV transmission.
RNA qualitative test for HIV (HIV RNA PCR test) is highly sensitive & specific test, you can be sure of the test result as negative even at 25 days of exposure but not after 11 days of exposure (because test accuracy is less at 11 days).
Generally incubation period of HIV ranges from 1 month to 3 months and if you will go for the test after 25 days of exposure then it could give around 95% accurate result.
Mostly,RNA test give results nearly 100% after 6 to 8 weeks of exposure.
Since the incubation period for hepatitis B varies from 2 months to 4 months (bigger range is 1.5 months to 6 months),so I would suggest you to go for Hep B test at least 6 weeks of exposure to get nearly 95% accuracy result. At 3 weeks the test can be done for early detection but it's accuracy would be less.
Hope this will help you.
Regards,
Dr.Sandip Kabra
Soreness over penis without cut injury does not cause any risk of HIV.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thanks for the posting query on health care magic,
I have read your query again and understand the concern.
Merely soreness over penis without cut injury does not cause any risk of HIV transmission.
RNA qualitative test for HIV (HIV RNA PCR test) is highly sensitive & specific test, you can be sure of the test result as negative even at 25 days of exposure but not after 11 days of exposure (because test accuracy is less at 11 days).
Generally incubation period of HIV ranges from 1 month to 3 months and if you will go for the test after 25 days of exposure then it could give around 95% accurate result.
Mostly,RNA test give results nearly 100% after 6 to 8 weeks of exposure.
Since the incubation period for hepatitis B varies from 2 months to 4 months (bigger range is 1.5 months to 6 months),so I would suggest you to go for Hep B test at least 6 weeks of exposure to get nearly 95% accuracy result. At 3 weeks the test can be done for early detection but it's accuracy would be less.
Hope this will help you.
Regards,
Dr.Sandip Kabra
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Veerisetty Shyamkumar
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