Expert: Kristen Brannock, MPH - 5/24/2008

Question
Dear Kristen,

I am man living temporarily in US. I am 25 years old. About a week ago I had oral sex with an African - American woman in a strip bar. She is working as a striper in that club. She was the receiver. (I put my tongue inside her vagina only for 10-15 seconds) But when I come back home i remembered that, i had some skin peeled of from my lips 1 week ago, and till that day it was not cured properly. But it was not bleeding. I want to do a test to check the HIV infection. Do I really have HIV infection? should i check or not? If i need to, is the test available in all the hospitals and how reliable are those tests. Please Advise..

Cheers
Bimal

Answer
Having unprotected oral sex does put you at risk for HIV because infected vaginal fluid can transmit the virus.

You can visit a local health department for testing-it is usually free. I dont think that is the case at hospitals.

However, there is a 1-3 month window period which means you should test at least 3 months after possible exposure for a definitive result.