"Am I at Risk for HIV Infection? What Infections am I at Risk For?"

Question: "Am I at Risk for HIV Infection? What Infections am I at Risk For?"

Answer: The risk of infection or infections really depends on the type of unprotected sexual contact.

• Receptive anal intercourse ("bottom")
  According to the Guidelines for the Management and Post Exposure Prophylaxis of Individuals who Sustain Nonoccupational Exposure to HIV, ANCAHRD/CTARC Bulletin, February 2001, the risk of transmission as a result of receptive anal sex is somewhere between 1 in 125 to 1 in 31 or approximately three per cent. Other experts place the risk as low as 1 in 1300.

  Important Fact!
  Infection can and does occur with just one unprotected sexual encounter. It's important to note that even though the risk is 1 in 1300, that one chance in 1300 can be the first time.

  • Can I Get HIV from Unprotected Anal Sex?

  • We're Both Positive...Do We Need to Use Condoms?

• Insertive partner ("top") during anal intercourse
  While the risk is about 10 times less than being the receptive partner, the risk is there and is real. And of course the same holds true...it only takes one time.
  • How to Prevent HIV & STDs

  • Condom Do's & Don'ts

• Vaginal intercourse - infected men to uninfected women
  One study put the risk at about 1 chance of infection in 100,000 unprotected sexual encounters but again, the one might be the first contact you have.
  • A Women's Guide to Safer Sex

  • How to Use a Female Condom

• Vaginal intercourse - infected women to uninfected men
  Studies seem to confirm that the risk is quite low, about 1 in 200,000 but of course the risk is not zero.
  • What if the Condom Breaks?

  • Proper & Effective Condom Use

• Oral sex
  Admittedly the risk of transmitting HIV during oral sex is extremely low, but the risk is there and it is not zero.

  Important Fact!
  Keep in mind that beside HIV, oral sex can transmit other sexually transmitted diseases such has herpes and syphilis.

  • Can I Get HIV from Oral Sex?

  • How Safe is Oral Sex?

Which type of exposures carry the highest risk?
Certain exposure routes do offer higher risk of infection than others. Those exposures that carry the highest risk include:

• Sharing needles to inject drugs
• Receptive unprotected anal intercourse
• Vaginal intercourse
  • Does Needle Exchange Work?

Breatfeeding & Child Birth
There are two transmission routes that have very high incidence of HIV infection - upwards of 1 in 4.

• child birth - transmission from infected mom to her unborn baby

• breastfeeding - transmission from mother to baby during breast feeding.

Fortunately, the risk for these two transmission routes can be decreased dramatically by good prenatal HIV care, expert HIV care during delivery, and HIV care for the baby after the delivery.

• Preventing HIV Transmission from Mother to Unborn Child

• The Risks of Breastfeeding

Important Fact!
Numbers and percentages really are just guidelines. Infection can and does occur after one unprotected sexual encounter or after sharing a needle once. The only way to know if you've been infected is to get tested. Percentages and numbers should not be a substitute for testing and safer sex.

• 5 Reasons to Get HIV Tested

_Sources

• AIDS Infonet Fact Sheet #152 - "How Risky is It?"; 25 Oct 2005.

• Murphy, D. "Risk reduction strategies for anal sex with casual partners."; AFAO/NAPWA Education Discussion Paper. Vol. 2, No. 4, 2000/2001; 1 Jun 2001.