Am I HIV positive too?

Worried man

What you need to know:

  • Even if kissing may not lead to HIV infection, it may lead to sex without first checking.

I am a third year student. I recently met a girl and after kissing her, I discovered she is HIV-positive and taking antiretroviral drugs. Did I get the virus as well?

Dear Musa,
Saliva, tears, sweat and urine can have the HIV virus in them but in such small concentrations they may not lead to infection. But if contaminated with blood which increases this concentration, the risk of transmission exists.

Since this girl is taking ARVs, her viral concentration is likely to be much lower, especially if she is taking her drugs correctly.
Transmission through kissing even when it is deep is extremely unusual. It is however advised that whenever one gets a new girlfriend, they should together go for tests including HIV and Hepatitis B, among others. If both are negative, they should wait for at least three months and repeat the tests before getting intimate.

Even if kissing may not lead to HIV infection, it may lead to sex without first checking.
If you took an HIV test recently and tested negative, you should wait another three months and take another test to see whether you are still negative.

Treatment
• If you are highly sensitive to semen, and your body shows strong allergic reactions to it despite going for treatment, then the doctor will suggest you go for an Intrauterine or Artificial insemination to conceive. In this method, the doctor will inject isolated sperms (sperms without seminal fluid) into your body at the time of ovulation to increase chances of pregnancy.
• The main aim of this method is to increase tolerance of semen in your body to avoid adverse reactions. Though, the exact mechanism of the treatment is still unclear, but health experts believe that regularly injecting sperm into the body produces antibodies against seminal proteins. However, please do not try this method without proper medical guidance, as it can have life-threatening consequences.

Source: www.momjunction.com