Question
Will my wife get infected?
29 May 2009. Related: All topics, HIV transmission.
Hi, thank you for marvelous job!
I came across distressing thing yesterday. My wife and I were doing some warm uppings. Yet some fluid, most probably the sperm, entered her. Will she be infected for sure? She is -ve, I am +ve.
Answer
First, come down!. Not every contact will by default lead to infection. There are several factors that play a role, the most important of which is your viral load-the higher it is, the higher the chance of getting infected. If you are on treatment and your treatment works, then the chance is lower.
It is advisable that you contact your hospital ASAP though, as they can provide you or advise how to get a post exposure prophylaxis-this is a treatment that HIV+ve people use (taken for 4 weeks) that reduces the chance of the partner to get infected.
The important thing is to obtain that treatment and her to start it 48 hours after the contact at the latest, as otherwise it does not make sense. That is why the sooner you contact the hospital-the better.
I am afraid we do not produce educational materials that are based on pictures only. All of our materials are predominantly text-based. There are many pictures, posters and drawings that you may find useful at the following link of the AVERT website. You can search by category there: http://www.avert.org/photo-gallery/all/all/
Also the TAC from South Africa have some materials on living with HIV that are perhaps more appropriate for the situation where you work: http://www.tac.org.za/community/treatmentliteracy
I give sanitation and hygiene classes in the villages and at our mission in Bunda, Tanzania. So many die of AIDS here and they want me to teach HIV and AIDS classes. I do the other classes with drawings. Can you find and send me a programme to teach, that has drawings? Thank you.
Mama Africa