Hi Doc,

Firstly I have to say you are the best doc out there who shoots from the hip....no if s and buts ...

Ok heres my situation...I went to a community health club .....after working out I went to the water fountain and drank some water...as soon as I finished drinking I noticed some dirty stuff stuck on the nozzle....I stopped and looked around and saw a bunch of kids laughing...they said that some kid had jerked off and put his com/sperm on the nozzle of the fountain.....I nearly puked and got panicky....what if the sperm was contaminated with HIV?.....do you think I am at risk of HIV from this exposure?..is there any other risk of STDs......Should I get tested for HIV?....I am scared and disgusted...I have practiced safe sex all my life....and I am freaked out of my mind... Please help Doc...I have been a consistent contrbutor to your foundation and will continue to do so

ps- if the kids were kidding and it was just snot would that be a risk?

Regards...

Hi,

While I admit this is indeed an unappetizing occurrence, your fears of HIV acquisition are unwarranted. First of all, HIV doesn't survive very long outside the body. Second, the chances the spunkmeister kid is HIV positive are extremely remote at best. Third, even if he did spunk the drinking foundation nozzle, the chances you got a significant amount of baby batter in your mouth are also extremely remote. Add all these factors together and your HIV-acquisition risk becomes so remote it's essentially nonexistent. Even if the kid was poz and even if he did spunk the fountain nozzle just before you took a drink and even if you managed to get the whole load in your mouth (please note this is a whole lot of farfetched "even ifs"), your risk would be equivalent to receptive oral sex. Receptive oral sex carries only a low risk for HIV acquisition. Although I do not feel an HIV-antibody test is medically warranted for such an improbably potential exposure, if you remain worried get a single HIV-antibody test at the three-month mark. I'm extremely confident the result will be negative.

Thanks for your donations to the Robert James Frascino AIDS Foundation (www.concertedeffort.org). They are warmly appreciated.

Be well. Stay well. Stop worrying. (You are indeed "well.")

Dr. Bob