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Can HIV Infection Spread Through A Cut On The Penis?
Dear Dr,
I had a protected intercourse (condom) 1 day ago. However i had a small cut on the penis 3 days old, caused by shaving, which i thought healed. I noticed today that during the intercourse probably a small piece of skin, probably not healed completely has been peeled of the small wound, there was no blood. As that cut is at the lower part of penis and not covered by the condom i am very worried that there is a potential if the person i was with had HIV, i might have been infected via vaginal fluid. Should i worry, is there a possibility that i have been infected in this particular case, and how soon can i do the test to confirm or no, if needed.
I had a protected intercourse (condom) 1 day ago. However i had a small cut on the penis 3 days old, caused by shaving, which i thought healed. I noticed today that during the intercourse probably a small piece of skin, probably not healed completely has been peeled of the small wound, there was no blood. As that cut is at the lower part of penis and not covered by the condom i am very worried that there is a potential if the person i was with had HIV, i might have been infected via vaginal fluid. Should i worry, is there a possibility that i have been infected in this particular case, and how soon can i do the test to confirm or no, if needed.
posted on
Thu, 13 Mar 2014
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Sun, 24 Aug 2014
Answered on
Mon, 25 Aug 2014
Last reviewed on
Hello
thanks for using health care magic
the risk of infection is minimal even if the person you had
intercourse with is positive for HIV. this is so because the
wound you had was not a fresh wound and was not actively bleeding.
What you did after e.g washing with water, or applying antiseptic had it been you did any would have also reduce the risk.
Well, for the test, routine tests such as screening with rapid test can detect infection only after 3 months following exposure. However, tests such as ELISAs using both Ag and antibodies could be use as early as two weeks after exposure.
It will be good to do testing so as to be sure of your status. This could be done using the rapid test at three months, 6 months and 1 yr later or using the ELISA at earlier dates than the rapid tests.
Best regards. If you have further query, please do not hesitate to ask me.
Dr Achuo
thanks for using health care magic
the risk of infection is minimal even if the person you had
intercourse with is positive for HIV. this is so because the
wound you had was not a fresh wound and was not actively bleeding.
What you did after e.g washing with water, or applying antiseptic had it been you did any would have also reduce the risk.
Well, for the test, routine tests such as screening with rapid test can detect infection only after 3 months following exposure. However, tests such as ELISAs using both Ag and antibodies could be use as early as two weeks after exposure.
It will be good to do testing so as to be sure of your status. This could be done using the rapid test at three months, 6 months and 1 yr later or using the ELISA at earlier dates than the rapid tests.
Best regards. If you have further query, please do not hesitate to ask me.
Dr Achuo
I find this answer helpful
Hello, Thnx to contact us. If I am your treating doctor I would like to advice you that denuded skin that has oozing the serum will cause you infection. so chances are there that you might be infected with the HIV. However I advice you to start the antiretroviral treatment as a post exposure prophylaxis. Also I advice you to give follow up test p24 antigen test to do after a 2 weeks after treatment. This test is earliest confirmatory test. If you have anything else to ask please contact me. Thanx. Dr. Arun Tank
I find this answer helpful
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