Question

Can I have sex with a HIV positive person and not get infected?

7 December 2010. Related: All topics, HIV testing, HIV transmission.

Hi,

Is it possible to have sex with a HIV positive person and not get infected?

I had unprotected sex with a woman last year in September and in November she tested positive and she is on treatment now. I went for my an ELISA 4th generation test in February and it was negative.

I went again after a week, still negative. The woman is 100% sure that I was the last person she slept with before her test, hence why I am asking this question. Thank you

Answer

Answer: Charlotte Walker

Thank you for your question.

It is possible to have sex with someone who is HIV positive and not become infected. HIV s a difficult virus to catch and the risk is probably less than 1 in 300 (if the person is not on treatment).

If the HIV positive person has an undetectable viral load on treatment, this small risk becomes zero.

in the same way that not every time you have unprotected sex with a woman does she become pregnant. You were just lucky.

Please see Q1 and Q5 at this link:
https://i-base.info/qa/what-are-the-most-asked-questions

Note: this answer was modified in January 2018 to include a new link. i-Base no longer answers individual questions about testing and risk.