Possible Exposure To Hiv

[Thailand1977]

OK had sex with a lady of the night in the early hours of this morning, condom came off and there was lots of blood on the end of my penis.

What post exposure to HIV drugs should i get, i leave Bangkok for the UK tomorrow but presumably i need something ASAP. Or is there a doctors suirgery open on Saturday in Sukhumvit area.

Any advice appreciated.

[beano2274]

The Red Cross is open, they will test and give you the result within an hour, not expensive either, also it is called the Anonymous Clinic.

http://www.redcross.or.th/old/english/service/medical_clinicaids.php

Edited January 26, 2013 by beano2274

[Thailand1977]

I believe the 7 hour or so that have passed wouldnt be enough to get a definitive result, i'm more looking for advice on what drugs to take to prevent just in case.

[beano2274]

There are no drugs to take. Prevention is only when they find out you have the disease. You first need to find out if you got it, so this means testing in the UK upon your return.

Edited January 26, 2013 by beano2274

[Thailand1977]

http://www.tht.org.uk/sexual-health/HIV-STIs/HIV-AIDS/Post-exposure-prophylaxis

There are PEP drugs but itd be good to get advice where to get them and which are the latest ones form someone in the know.

[geoffster]

Yes the standard treatment is a two in one pill called Truvada. Must be take taken within 72 hours of the incident and must be taken for the whole month.

its just a standard hiv anti viral medicine and is FDA approved to prevent infection if taken early enough

however is expensive but probably worth it if you are worried

no tests will show you have been infected for at least 4 weeks

[Thailand1977]

Do i need a prescription and where is the best place to get it.

[geoffster]

Do i need a prescription and where is the best place to get it.

I belive you need to goto red cross or Bangkok Christian hospital. They are the only two places I know of

[beano2274]

Do i need a prescription and where is the best place to get it.

I belive you need to goto red cross or Bangkok Christian hospital. They are the only two places I know of

The red cross will only give it with a prescription from a doctor.

[Phronesis]

No doubt you want prompt advice on what drugs to purchase so that you can also buy some for the girl...

[marioc]

more likely 6 months......I guess you have to sit tight and pray if you believe because there is not much you can do as far as researching in Internet are concerned......getting some drugs in order to prevent the disease coming would help more your peace of mind....though better than nothing ...... sorry pal.

[Phronesis]

You would be better spending your remaining time in LOS thinking up stories to tell your WIFE back home to justify why you want to wear a condom when you have sex with her.

[jrtmedic]

There is some dangerous nonesense being spread here !

Hopefully one of the Mods will be along in a moment to delete the offending posts

Sheryl has some useful and more importantly , reliable information concerning HIV/AIDS pinned.

To the OP

Truvada if you can find it, it will be expensive here --- if its not expensive then suspect what is offered to be fake !

You have aready recieved good advise which is to attend the Red Cross Anonymous Clinic. Explain your predicament and ask their advise --------the staff are experts in STD.s

Whatever you decide it is important for you to attend your nearest GUM clinic ASAP once your back in the UK.

Make sure you explain to the clinic staff that your risk exposure occured in Thailand --- this is very important information which will have a bearing on any advise/investigation/treatment you may be offered.

Edited January 26, 2013 by jrtmedic

[draftvader]

I'm sure that the World Health Organisation can be said to be an authority.

http://bit.ly/Wmoane

States that there is a lower risk through unprotected vaginal than anal, however there is still a risk. Again the risk is increased by continual exposure (i.e. having unprotected sex with the same, infected, person again and again). However the OP has described blood on his penis, this is an immediate cause for concern as blood to blood is the transmission route.

Information based off low numbers is probably not a good picture of the issue. Bearing in mind that Thailand has one of the highest levels of infection in the world I think the OP is best off exercising a great deal of caution right now and not to be put off testing by being told that, in a small demographic, this hasn't been a problem.

---EDIT---

Almost forgot. Your example of a doctor a Samitivej is going to cause an aberration in your data. We are talking about people who can afford Samitivej care in this data, though I strongly doubt the OP is. I would imagine that if you spoke to a doctor at a government hospital you would get a VERY different picture.

Please understand that I am only stating this as it is important the OP does follow through with testing at this point and meets with a knowledgeable specialist (as defined by Sheryl in the pinned thread). I am not stating this to annoy you.

Edited January 26, 2013 by SeaVisionBurma

[Totster]

You should have taken her for a test after the 'incident'

totster

[Thailand1977]

It was her blood on my penis, i didnt have any cut of any kind on there, and it was only vaginal sex.

I only stayed with her for a couple of hours and have no contact details.

And i have no wife back in England, but lets not get into that kind of argument.

Thanks for your help.

Edited January 26, 2013 by Thailand1977

[draftvader]

It was her blood on my penis, i didnt have any cut of any kind on there, and it was only vaginal sex.

I only stayed with her for a couple of hours and have no contact details.

And i have no wife back in England, but lets not get into that kind of argument.

Thanks for your help.

Have you tested your penis for any abrasions? Maybe wiping medical alcohol on your penis will provide you with an answer (i.e. it will hurt if you do). Please remember that you don't have to have a visible cut or graze to provide an opening for transmission.

[whatchamacallit]

There are no drugs to take. Prevention is only when they find out you have the disease. You first need to find out if you got it, so this means testing in the UK upon your return.

Please refrain from giving advice when you don't know what you're talking about.

If you are infected today, it can take up to six months or more for the virus to be detectable.

If you feel you may have been exposed to HIV within 72 hrs, there are measures that should be taken: http://gaylife.about.com/od/hivaid1/a/postexposurepep.htm

Then take an HIV test around 3 months - if negative do it again in 6 months, if negative again - most likely you are ok.

Edited January 26, 2013 by whatchamacallit

[rekkie]

Two things i would do is get tested then get the girl tested.

If both clear problem over, if not plan b and get the meds for both parties and good luck!

It is wholly irresponsible to have unprotected sex in Thailand or any other country with anyone other than a regular partner.

It is also a good idea to use Durex brand, They work to about 1 hole in 100,000 and the spermicide kills HIV some brands are as low as 1 hole in 10

I used to work for Durex R&D in the uk admittedly many years ago.

[PJ28UK]

God people are talking a lot of crap on this post !

1 - Member 'Thailand 1977' get yourself to The Red Cross Hospital' right now and explain to them what happened. If you cannot get in touch with the girl and get her tested, you should take PEP meds. Its vital you start these within 72 hours, but the sooner you start them the higher the chance they will work.

2 - If Red Cross cant help, so to one of the private hospitals, say BNH on soi convent.

3 - A test for you is useless, it would take 4 - 6 weeks using a 4th generation Combo test (this looks for P24 Allergen + Antibodies) test to show positive. Some say this tests works at 16 days, with 95% accuracy, but for 100% you need to wait 4 to 6 weeks.

3 - If you cant find PEP in Bangkok, call Dr Tan in Singapore, he is a private doctor and can offer this :-

http://www.drtanandp...ere-to-find-us/

Dr TAn in Singapore is open until 2pm on Sat (Singapore is 1 hour behind Bangkok, so he is open 2.5 hours from now.) You could call him and talk with him and he can advise you on your situation. Maybe you get yourself to Singapore later this afternoon and maybe he can meet you and give you meds this evening.

Thats my advice. Good luck buddy. I am not a medical profeshional, and I dont have HIV. But I do work for a charity that supports 500 kids that have HIV so I know a little bit about this subject. Finally, of course you can get HIV from vaginal sex ! If there did not, hundreds of millions of people would not have HIV now. With the presense of blood the risk increases, and if the girl was recently infected and her viral load is high, the risk is much greater. You would not need a cut or abbrasion on the penis, the virus in her blood / vaginal fluids would carry the virus and it would enter your uretha and 'could' pass the virus into your blood stream this way.

Edited January 26, 2013 by PJ28UK

[PJ28UK]

This Doctor says the risk is of 5 in 10,000 cases of vaginal sex

http://www.thebody.com/Forums/AIDS/SafeSex/Q206263.html

And some facts from the UK

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1840.aspx?CategoryID=73

Here are some numbers I found looking online :-

https://members.weforum.org/pdf/Initiatives/GHI_HIV_UN_AppendixL.pdf

[SeaVisionBurma]

Several posts have been removed. I am not a Doctor - but I'd like to think I have enough common sense not to make misleading statements about how diseases can and cannot be transmitted.

Please think before posting - and if you don't have any credible advice or information to add - then kindly refrain.

SVB

[LukiLab]

European procedures:

Truvada treatment for minimum 2 weeks should be working but only if you take it 24-48h after your risky sex, otherwise nothing will help you. First 4 generation test should be done after 4 weeks after exposure. That is minimum period when test can detect hiv antibodies.

Good luck!

[SeaVisionBurma]

OP made a post requesting information on where to find clinics open on a Saturday.

Several helpful replies have been made, but a lot of nonsense posts have been removed.

OP - I am closing this thread. If you want it re-opened please PM myself or contact support.

[Sheryl]

I'm late in getting to this but will just add a few clarifications:

1. There is such a thing as post exposure prophylaxis (PP) for HI but it must be prescribed by a doctor and the potential risks and side effects of the drugs need to be weighted against the degree of risk. Each encounter is unique in that respect so best to get the opinion of an expert in the field so you can make an informed decision. The Thai Red Cross Clinic as mentioned would be the ideal place for this.These are unpleasant drugs to take and you would have to take them for 4 weeks.

2. Antiretroviral meds cannot be purchased OTC in Thailand.

To be effective, PEP must be started within 48, and preferrably within 24, hours. therefore if OP wishes to take this he must waste no time.

3. there are a variety of regimens for PEP, some consisting f 2 and some of 3 drugs. The Red Cross would know the preferred regimen for possible exposure from a female Thai sex worker.

4. There are 2 types of HIV test: an antibody test, which is what is most commonly done and is very inexpensive. It will however not detect very recent infections. The majority of people (about 95%) will be antibody positive within 3 months of infection and virtually all will be after 6 months so the standard advise is test 3 months after possible exposure and, if negative, repeat at 6 months.

The other type of test actually measures the virus in the blood. It is more expensive and takes longer to get the results, but it will show a positive result much earlier than an antibody test will, usually by 2-3 weeks after infection. Some people prefer to undergo the expense of this rather than sweat it out for 3-6 months.

At this point in time, neither test is of any use to the OP unless he is able to get the woman tested, and the only test for her that would make sense is the antigen (viral load tests) as she could be highly infectious and yet still antibody negative is she had acquired infection in the past few months.

How infectious someone is, relates directly to the amount of virus in their blood so if the woman has no detectable viral load, he's safe.