Avatar universal

Torn Condom

Dear Doc,

Apologies for asking this again, you seem to have responded to several on this issue.

I had intercourse with a Brazilian lady in London. The condom ripped and upon feeling a different sensation, I pulled out and we changed it and continued.

I had trimmed down there about an hour prior to the encounter. I am freaking out that I may have picked something from this lady, she did tell me that she's clean and was extremely calm dealing with the torn situation. I am scared that having trimmed I might have some openings in my skin during that encounter.

I have arranged for a DNA pcr test at 2 weeks. It's been a week and I don't currently have any symptoms. What would you recommend and say is the chance of me catching anything in this scenario.

Thank you.
2 Responses
Avatar universal
Only the head needs protection so trimming is irrelevant otherwise most people would have it from skin cuts. The reason is because hiv is dead in air.
Just take a duo at 4 weeks instead for a conclusive result. Likely she is negative, otherwise why would she pay money for condoms? She only cares about herself, so she bought the condom to protect her, not you and if she could get it from cuts she would have examined your body under a microscope first..
Thank you very much, the long wait continues to get tested at 4 weeks. The anxiety continues as I wait, I'll take other tests prior to the duo at 4 weeks. Hope for the best, fingers crossed.
I wouldn't worry while waiting because as I mentioned, she is likely negative.
188761 tn?1584567620
DNA PCR is not an approved diagnostic test. Also, it is not advisable at 2 weeks. It is best taken at 28 days because the HIV DNA is a derivative of the RNA, it takes certain time for production of a double-stranded DNA copy of the viral RNA genome, by 28 days post exposure it's almost always the DNA is integrated out of the RNA and hence this test is said to be optimum at the 28th day.

However, a 4th Generation HIV test - an approved diagnostic test is good by then for a conclusive result.

This test looks for the 'Antibodies' - The body's response to the viral infection and 'P24 antigen' - A viral protein that is found usually between 4 - 14 days post infection in the infected individual's body simultaneously.

IV generation test (P24 Ag and AB 1 & 2 test) taken at the 4th week is conclusive because in an HIV infected individual, if the body has not produced detectable amount of antibodies by that time, it is in process of sero-conversion. In that case p24 proteins would be certainly detected. This occurance is very rare as the average time to seroconvert is 21 days, this specifically takes care of the late seroconversion possibility.

And following the natural course of action, by this time the antibodies are always produced, it would pick up the antibody readings.

I second ANM, the chances of you contracting the virus from this small exposure is very slim.  The most important thing is, your partner must be HIV negative. You were only unprotected for a brief moment and it's difficult that way for a female to male transmission.

I personally do not see this to be a high risk. Just take a IV generation test at 28 days, you should be okay.
Thank you very much Mike, definitely feel a bit reassured. I'll take the test after 28 days and test for the other STDs at the 2 week mark. Hoping it's an all clear, I need to stop playing scenarios in my head.
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