Question
Should my friends still use condoms?
13 November 2009. Related: All topics, HIV transmission.
Hi, thanks for this site.
I have a friend who has a wife (who is not tested, but most probably not infected). They have sex regularly. He is HIV-positive. He told me, they had unprotected sex recently by mistake. Is this dangerous and do they restart the sex with condom?
Answer
Not every unprotected sexual contact with a HIV-positive person will necessarily lead to an infection. There are many aspects to be considered-the type of sex, what is the viral load of the positive person, etc.
Having said that, it is really important for your friends to go back to using condoms as his wife may still not be infected and each further unprotected sex could lead to infection.
It is probably important for her to get tested so she knows her current HIV-status, especially if she has never taken and HIV test. There is more information on testing here.
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