HIV/AIDS

[Guest]

I was the person who recently posted about possible exposure when cleaning off after intercourse. I still have a question as I am still worried. Assume that I had an abrasion on the head of my penis. Not an open sore, or a cut, and there was no blood, but a slight abrasion from being rubbed against. It wasn't big enough to scab or anything, but I'm pretty sure it was there. Also assume that I wiped some vaginal fluid against the abrasion or urethra after taking off the condom and then I wiped off the penis with a wet washcloth. Still no reasonable exposure? Thanks in advance for your response.

[Guest]

If I remember your original question correctly, you used a condom and were worried about these "exposures" after taking off a condom. What you're describing is remotely plausable, but not usually thought of as in the risk category. The best study I know of in this regard tracked couples with one positive and one negative partner over a few years. They found NO transmissions in consistent condom users. They probably did the kind of things you did after intercourse and still didn't transmit. If you persist in worry, get a test at 6-8 weeks, if it's negative, and you had no realistic exposures since, you're negative.

Interestingly, this reminds me somewhat of when I practiced medicine in Nepal, a country with endemic rabies. I saw a patient who had not been bitten by any animals, but had a mangy dog rub up against his leg. He was worried that the dog could have had rabies, could have been licking himself, and then rubbed the saliva against his leg and gotten rabies. No, he didn't get rabies.
GR
[quote] I was the person who recently posted about possible exposure when cleaning off after intercourse. I still have a question as I am still worried... [/quote]