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Had Low Risk Male To Male Encounter. Worried About HIV Transmission
Question: I am a male who recently had a single male/male encounter which, while I believe to be 'low-risk', has caused me a fair bit of anxiety. My main concern is any possibly transmission of HIV.
The encounter was mutual masturbation, which the information I can find says is a small risk for transmission.
I don't believe that I made contact with any fluids, but as I am not 100% certain of that, a few points have the doubt lingering in my mind.
1) It was anonymous and so I have no idea of the history of this man.
2) I was not able to wash my hands immediately. I recall absentmindedly touching my lips afterwards. My fingers felt dry, but I have a wisdom tooth that has been causing me some pain and occasionally bleeds. I worry about the possibility of my introducing fluids into my mouth and being infected via my tooth.
3) I had a slight sore throat at the time, which I read increases the chance of infection orally. I did not take any fluids directly into my mouth, the only possible route would be via my hands.
4) A couple of days later, I noticed a scratch on my leg which was bleeding slightly. I do not remember getting this scratch, so I cannot be certain that it didn't exist at the time. That said, I am not as concerned about it, as I don't believe it was that old (it looked pretty fresh when I found it) and I don't think there was contact there.
5) He did rub the tip of my penis and I worry that if he had anything on his hands, my urethra might be an avenue for infection.
My question is, How worried should I be?
Thank you so much for your help.
The encounter was mutual masturbation, which the information I can find says is a small risk for transmission.
I don't believe that I made contact with any fluids, but as I am not 100% certain of that, a few points have the doubt lingering in my mind.
1) It was anonymous and so I have no idea of the history of this man.
2) I was not able to wash my hands immediately. I recall absentmindedly touching my lips afterwards. My fingers felt dry, but I have a wisdom tooth that has been causing me some pain and occasionally bleeds. I worry about the possibility of my introducing fluids into my mouth and being infected via my tooth.
3) I had a slight sore throat at the time, which I read increases the chance of infection orally. I did not take any fluids directly into my mouth, the only possible route would be via my hands.
4) A couple of days later, I noticed a scratch on my leg which was bleeding slightly. I do not remember getting this scratch, so I cannot be certain that it didn't exist at the time. That said, I am not as concerned about it, as I don't believe it was that old (it looked pretty fresh when I found it) and I don't think there was contact there.
5) He did rub the tip of my penis and I worry that if he had anything on his hands, my urethra might be an avenue for infection.
My question is, How worried should I be?
Thank you so much for your help.
Hi AAAAA
If there was any contact with body fluids (semen with any mucosa, such as lips, wounds, penis, etc), then your chances of infection increase. It seems by your description that was not the case. For every direct contact with an HIV infected body fluid there is <1% of transmission, however when having sexual intercourse there is constant contact with body fluids increasing chances of transmission.
By touching your lip with your hands after the encounter, I would say that the chances are very very minimal. Nevertheless I would highly recommend you getting an HIV test now, and then in 6 months to be a 100% sure (sometimes the HIV test does not become positive immediately).
If there was any contact with body fluids (semen with any mucosa, such as lips, wounds, penis, etc), then your chances of infection increase. It seems by your description that was not the case. For every direct contact with an HIV infected body fluid there is <1% of transmission, however when having sexual intercourse there is constant contact with body fluids increasing chances of transmission.
By touching your lip with your hands after the encounter, I would say that the chances are very very minimal. Nevertheless I would highly recommend you getting an HIV test now, and then in 6 months to be a 100% sure (sometimes the HIV test does not become positive immediately).
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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