Question
How easy is it to get HIV?
12 August 2010. Related: All topics, HIV transmission.
I feel so stupid and genuinely need help! I always think I am at danger of getting HIV. At the clinic, bars, etc. I don’t know where this has all come from but its really getting to me now.
I had a parcel come through the post for my neighbour who is a GP. I handled the parcels today and thought ‘ohh what if something poked me?’ It’s always ‘what ifs’ like what if there was a needle etc
My question is – is HIV easy to catch?
Can I get HIV from something like a needle – lets say again for argument sake it had blood on it – it was sat in my lounge for 4 hours I guess the virus would die? What’s wrong with me?
I am due to have a test from a past previous encounter – on the 23rd august counting the days down and now this happened. If I had my test 2 days later it would bring this to 21 days.
Answer
Thank you for your question.
It sounds as if you would benefit from some professional counseling about why you are so concerned with getting HIV. With today’s modern drugs someone with HIV can lead a normal life with a near normal life expectancy so there is really nothing to worry about.
HIV is not that easy to catch, especially in the UK where the prevalence is so low and where positive people have access to treatment making them non-infectious.
You cannot get HIV from handling a parcel and you cannot get it from a needle that has been lying around for 4 hours.
It is impossible to say what the chances are that you have HIV. The negative test after 2 weeks is a good sign. The only way you will know is with a test 3-4 weeks after the exposure. Early symptoms are not specific to HIV and can also be caused by many other things. For more information please follow this link
I had a one night stand with a girl I picked up in a bar. The condom slipped and remained stuck in the vagina. my semen was still in the condom and there were no indications of any possible spill. The dilemma I’m facing is when it got stuck did I continue with the penetration or not? I tested exactly 2 weeks after the incident and the result was negative and I was told to come back after a month just to be sure. My question is given this scenario, what are the chances that I might have contracted HIV? What are the obvious early signs and symptoms of HIV?