Dear Ryan, Recently I had an encounter with a prostitute whereby she touched my penis with ejaculation and I briefly touched her vagina. I dont think though there were any vaginal secretions and I just touched her briefly around the outside. I remember there was no smell of vaginal secretions afterward but just perfume. Now I know though that I put my finger to my nose in my ignorance and hope this has not put me at risk of hiv. The counsellor at the local clinic said no but i have become anxious again. Is there much risk?

Remember, HIV infected fluids need to come into contact with mucous membranes, and relatively quickly, for transmission to occur. There is no evidence that HIV is spread through the sort of indirect contact that you describe.

Sexual transmission of HIV is known to be spread through the following three ways:

1) Anal sex, receptive or insertive

2) Vaginal sex, receptive or insertive

3) Oral sex, receptive fellatio or insertive cunnulingus (transmission to the person whose mouth is on the genitals)

If your sexual behavior does not fall into any of the above categories, then it is EXTREMELY unlikely that you will become infected through sexual contact.

RMK