An HIV transmission question

[B_thickjohnny]

I had a weird conversation with someone tonight who told me that he found out that a guy he was seeing is positive and apparently has been for about two years. He said he found a lump on the guy's neck one day when they were "petting". The guy later told him that he went to the doctor and that's when he found out his status.

So the guy I was talking to said he went to get tested and was ok. The doctor at the clinic preached a bit and told him that "while the vagina is somewhat immune to HIV transmission the anus is not. That even in a long term monogamous relationship there is the possibility that the virus develops". I called bullshit. I said that any two guys in a long term 100% monogamous relationship had almost zero chance of contracting HIV. He said the doctor told him that the mucous membrane in the anus is volatile and the virus could develop. It sounds like spontaneous combustion!

Of course I was told that the doctor knows better than I do for obvious reasons - he's a doctor and I'm not!


So, is it possible or was my bullshit call on target?

 

[spoon]

the vagina is "not immune" to hiv transmission.

Unprotected/Unsafe Sex
Every sexual act (oral, anal, or vaginal) that involves sexual fluids of some kind has at least some risk.
Heterosexual transmission is now the most commonly reported mode of HIV transmission among women.

 

[nudeyorker]

I think the doctor is a quack.

 

[D_Rosalind Mussell]

I think the doctor is a quack.

THIS

 

[atlclgurl]

That doctor is an IDIOT.

The highest percentage of people becoming infected with HIV is WOMEN OF COLOR. Clearly the vagina is a bit hardier that the anus as it is specifically designed to have a penis inserted, designed to withstand a pounding from said penis and designed to eject the product of said pounding if the man's sperm does the job they were designed to do, but that IN NO WAY makes it "immune" to nasty virus trying to KILL you!

ANY exchange of bodily fluids, and this is not confined to just "sexual acts", carries with it some degree of risk, if the other person is infected with HIV. If, however, both gay men are negative, monogamous, and do not get exposed to the virus in some other way (infected blood into an open wound, needle sticks, etc.) then no, there will be no spontaneous eruption of HIV infecting that couple.

Here's a link you might want to share with your friend, his doctor is not giving him the right information!

Learn More About HIV

 

[erratic]

Yeah, like everyone else said, that doctor is full of shit. Your instincts were bang-on.

Anuses are slightly more prone to HIV transmission, but it's not a huge difference - and as atlclgurl points out there are many more important factors than just the tissues involved. Meanwhile, HIV does not spontaneously happen. That's an old, homophobic chestnut from back in the days of GRIDS.

 

[MsThang]

It's scary how so much misinformation is going around about HIV and Aids. A friend of mine recounted a dinner conversation she had with her friend who thought Magic Johnson was cured from Aids. We were both amazed that this person was so clueless.

 

[brinzaulsschwul]

Yes the doctor is a bit of an arse, HIV does not spontaneously happen - unless of course your partner is not telling the truth about his or her hiv status and then you might think `humm how did that happen must have been spontaneous` but no, it would have been a deliberate infection unless the partner did not know their HIV status. But there again, why would anyone have unprotected sex these days when there is soooo much HIV about?

Unprotected anal sex whether male or female with an HIV+ person is much much riskier than unprotected vaginal sex with an HIV+ person. Unprotected anal sex has the highest risk of infection because the capillaries in the arse tear very easily followed by unprotected vaginal sex and any contact with blood raises the risk, whether anal or menstrual - yes some people like to shag when the woman is having her period.

Scary how much misinformation there is indeed, but the poor use of language does not help - the confusion when talking about HIV but using AIDS as the description

THERE IS NO CURE FOR HIV, see HIV

However, if someone develops AIDS, there are really good treatments so if Magic Johnson had developed AIDS he could well have been treated for whatever that illness was see AIDS

See the following websites

Women, HIV and AIDS I've picked women and HIV but look at the whole site

UNAIDS for the global picture

HIV & AIDS Information :: Home

Loads of really good stuff around atm

Brinz

 

[B_thickjohnny]

yeah. I told my friend (actually my ex) that while I understand that he thinks the doctor is suppose to be the authority, in this case he's wrong. I tried explaining that HIV does not just spontaneously develop in one or two people if those two people are 100% monogamous. Of course that lead to "what do you know, are you a doctor", blah blah blah. I just said, you're right, the dr is right. Good luck with you and your friend.

So then he brings up a case when about a year into our monogamous relationship (we were together almost 4 years) I came home from a business trip with some STD. It took me by surprise. I went to the doctor and he said that my partner should be tested if we were having unprotected sex. I came home and told him and he refused to go saying it was my problem not his. I know with 100% certainty that I didn't fool around except for before we met and while we were dating (before we became committed to each other etc) but never unprotected. The Dr said it was probably from oral sex anyway - that was more common.

Ex claimed he hadn't fooled around. The doctor did say that it could have been dormant and cropped up because of a weakness in my immune system and if I was bottom and did anything with ex that he should be tested. He never did.

I found out later that he was fooling around but he claims that his cheating began much later than when I got that STD. In any case I never believed him.

 

[crescendo69]

There are so many liars in this world..
I am sorry for your misinformed friend. I hope that doctor loses his license.

 

[B_thickjohnny]

While I'm thinking about it, are some guys (or girls) more susceptible to STD infection than others?

 

[D_Miranda_Wrights]

While I'm thinking about it, are some guys (or girls) more susceptible to STD infection than others?

Yes. There's even a rare genetic mutation in a small number of Northern Europeans that makes them incredibly resistant -- not quite "natural condom" level, but not far off. However, marginal differences in resistance are incredibly hard to measure in a clinical context. You can't figure out what your test groups are without having a known, testable source of resistance; it's hard to get an accurate, quantifiable measure for how much risk a given person has undergone, even if they're honest; and even then, HIV contraction is such a rare event that even a high-risk group would require a large baseline sample size.

This doctor writes like someone who barely seems to understand medicine. The one thing he's sort of right about, that vaginal transmission is lower-risk than anal transmission, he still botches. The vagina doesn't have special resistance; it's less prone to micro-tears (in most situations) than the anus. That's not resistance, that's just lower relative susceptibility. That may seem semantic but it's the sort of thing someone with an education in medicine would know not to fuck up.

 

[Horny N Packin]

I have a question about this topic, I have had anal with a guy less than a handful of times and each time used a condom, but never while giving oral. Any partners that I have had said that they are HIV neg, but people do lie as we all know, are the chances high of getting HIV through oral, also when ever I do preform oral its not for anything longer than a few minutes and never have let a guy finish in or around my mouth.

 

[B_thickjohnny]

Oral is suppose to be a lower risk activity but my doctor (not the one in my post) said that while it's a lower risk thing for HIV transmission it's not true for STD transmission. You can get an STD much easier through oral sex apparently.

 

[atlclgurl]

if you are asking about ease of HIV transmission (guy versus girl) then the correct answer is that the person RECIEVING the sperm is the one who is most at risk. In the general population of the world, that means women get HIV easier than men do.

 

[FuzzyKen]

This Doctor Makes My Blood Boil!


Those of us who care do everything we can to caution people and tell them the truth about the vectors for spreading HIV and how to avoid it. We then have one homophobic idiot who definitely needs to go in for MD's continuing education instead of listening to authorities who mix homophobia with medicine.

Here it is in a nutshell. Both anal and vaginal penetration present risk to the partner on the receiving end in an unprotected act. Unless one is in a long term monogamous relationship and knows for a fact that the person they are sleeping with who is doing the penetrating is HIV sero-negative they are taking a risk.

There are many other factors involved in actual transmission. It is not as simple as depositing some fluids on vaginal or anal mucosa and watching it eat it's way in, it does not work that way.

In sexual intercourse vaginal or anal there are microtears which can allow access to transmissible agents. These can be a number of STD's and are not limited to HIV. Personally these days there are a few other things that worry me far more than HIV because they are far easier to transmit.

HIV as a retrovirus has a very narrow number of ways it can easily be transmitted. Hepatitis in the more esoteric varieties and some of the drug resistant varieties of the more common STD's transmit far more easily.

Successful HIV transmission now depends on so many factors that the odds are greatly reduced compared to other STD's if the person presenting as sero-positive is under care. If the person has a zero viral load count the odds are greatly reduced is but one example. Other factors would play on the condition of the immune system of the new host at the time of transmission.

The friend of whomever who feels he was exposed does need to watch himself for a while and get checked. During about a six month time frame that individual also needs to be very careful what he does with others simply because he does not know 100% for certain.

There are today numerous mixed couples living together in active sexual relationships with one being sero-positive and the other being sero-negative with no transmission taking place.

Personally if I were to receive baloney from an MD like this, I would report this in an exact detailed report to the local HIV authorities and more importantly the State Medical Board. This is horrendous because it is obvious because of the preferential and imagined invulnerability of a vagina in this man's mind that he is presenting hazardous information to patients!

 

[TomCat84]

I had a weird conversation with someone tonight who told me that he found out that a guy he was seeing is positive and apparently has been for about two years. He said he found a lump on the guy's neck one day when they were "petting". The guy later told him that he went to the doctor and that's when he found out his status.

So the guy I was talking to said he went to get tested and was ok. The doctor at the clinic preached a bit and told him that "while the vagina is somewhat immune to HIV transmission the anus is not. That even in a long term monogamous relationship there is the possibility that the virus develops". I called bullshit. I said that any two guys in a long term 100% monogamous relationship had almost zero chance of contracting HIV. He said the doctor told him that the mucous membrane in the anus is volatile and the virus could develop. It sounds like spontaneous combustion!

Of course I was told that the doctor knows better than I do for obvious reasons - he's a doctor and I'm not!


So, is it possible or was my bullshit call on target?

The doctor was bullshitting- or your friend misheard. The virus does not just up and appear- and the vagina is not in any way shape or form immune to HIV. What a crock of shit.

 

[B_thickjohnny]

I'm honestly more afraid of STDs because they seem to be so much easier to get. A simple BJ can cause infection. And I think so many people harbor a STD, don't show signs/symptoms and pass it on.

 

[BBB2.5]

WOW...and a Doctor told you that HIV can just develope.... I have heard and read some crazy stuff about HIV transmission. That has to be craziest thing I have heard yet.
I sure hope your friend does not go to this Doctor again.

 

[B_thickjohnny]

^ This was a doctor at an HIV testing clinic. My ex went to get tested when he found out that a guy he was seeing found out he was positive - for two years! He tested negative and that's when the doctor started preaching and told him that. I think my ex must have misunderstood the doctor who probably said that while the vagina is made for sex naturally the rectum/anus is not so it's more susceptible to the virus' transmission. My only concern is for my ex who, I think goes bareback. It is harder to go from bottom to top but it does happen.

Now here's a question - and this goes to the cut v uncut debate which I really don't mean to stir but... Can the virus be more easily transmitted through the more porous foreskin tissue versus the keratinized tissue of a cut cock?