Dear doctor,

I am sorry to ask again since not got any reply last time..:(

I had an unprotected oral for 10 mins and protected Vaginal sex with a CSW in Mid June. The aftereffect left me with 6-7 swollen lymph nodes, fever, rash in neck ,night sweats and two painless oral ulcer inside within 1 to 5 weeks after exposure. The rash and oral ulcer are still present..

I got an HIV Antibody test done on 42nd day after exposure and that came out negative. I know to have the testing done at 90 days again.. Would request your comments as most doctors believe that Oral sex carries minimal risk with my case as the insertive oral sex - Did I put myself at so much risk? Also, how much can I rely on the test that I got done with the symptoms as described..?

Any comments/advice is deeply required!!! Thanks a lot...

You have asked a question that many writing to this site have asked. Therefore, this is a standard reply I have prepared.

Oral sex is a very inefficient way to acquire HIV. The mouth does not contain the type of cells that HIV likes to infect. One study from Europe that followed couples where one person was HIV+ and the other HIV- failed to find a case of HIV transmission despite unprotected oral sex.

If you remain worried, due to some circumstance, you can certainly get tested for HIV. By 4 weeks after the encounter, antibodies to HIV are almost always detected by standard HIV tests.

Please be aware that syphilis, herpes simplex virus, and gonorrhea can certainly be transmitted by oral sex.

DW