Question
Can you become infected with HIV after having unprotected sex with a carrier?
1 August 2014. Related: All topics, HIV transmission, Pregnancy.
What is the chance that someone can become infected with HIV after having unprotected sex with a carrier who is negative? Also what are the chances of a child being born HIV positive if the mother is positive and on treatment.
Answer
Hi,
There is no such thing as a HIV ‘carrier’, someone is either HIV positive or HIV negative. Unprotected sex with someone who is HIV negative has no risk for HIV – that person does not have it.
The aim of putting mothers who have HIV on HAART is for them to get an undetectable viral load. THis helps make sure that the baby is born without HIV. In the UK, for a mother with and undetectable viral load at birth the risk is less than 1%. This means there is a more than 99% chance that the baby will not have HIV.
You can find more information about how HIV is transmitted here.
And information about HIV and pregnancy here.