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AIDS/HIV through a pimple?

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Expert: - 3/23/2009


Question
"Hello. Back on August 12, 2007, I had sex with a guy I was seeing at the time who said he was HIV negative. I topped him for about 10 minutes and I wore a condom. I did not come, but he did, on my stomach/chest. I worried a little bit, because either earlier that day or the day before, I remember seeing two small pimples around my belly button. I tried popping them, but couldn't and I don't know if I drew blood or not; if there was, it was very little. During my encounter with this guy, the pimples were not actively bleeding and I do remember looking and I don't think any semen touched the pimples. Then, on October 7, 2007, exactly 8 weeks after that, I got an HIV test and was negative. My question is: do you think that encounter was risky? Does HIV get passed through small pimples? Also, do you think a test at 8 weeks is accurate? Thanks!"

Answer
Hello Mike!

Thanks for the question. Here are the answers:

Q: Do you think that encounter was risky?
A: As you mentioned your partner was HIV-, then there's no risk of HIV transmission. But if your partner had other STIs, the encounter was risky.

Q: Does HIV get passed through small pimples?
A: Open wounds, bleeding ones are always risky considering HIV and STI transmission.

Q: Do you think a test at 8 weeks is accurate?
A: Accurate enough, if you get tested properly. However, the experts suggest being tested six months after the encounter with multiple HIV testing techniques, to be sure of the status.

I apologize for being late.

Thanks and best regards,
Gorkey  

AIDS

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Gorkey Gourab

Expertise

Social and behavioral issues related to HIV transmission, sexually transmitted infections, Human Rights issues, rights of marginalized populations, gender and sexuality, research design and analysis related social & behavioral issues, , computer assisted qualitative data analysis and data management (using ATLAS.ti, ANTHROPAC, NVivo 8)

Experience

Specialized in Medical Anthropology. Working on Social and behavioral studies related to HIV transmission as well as Human Rights issues. Specialization in gender, sexuality, masculinity, behavioral studies related to HIV transmission. Qualitative research, programmatic and M&E experience with MSM, hijra (TG), indigenous groups, female sex workers for more than 7 years.

Organizations
International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) as Manager - M&E (Qualitative) with Center for HIV and AIDS

Publications
International peer-reviewed journals & technical papers: (1) Khan, S. I., Hussain, M. I., Parveen, S., Bhuiyan, M. I., Gourab, G., & Bhuiya, A. (2009). Living on the extreme margin: Social exclusion of the hijra in Bangladesh. Journal of health, population and nutrition. (2) Khan, S. I., Hussain, M. I., Gourab, G., Parveen, S., Bhuiyan, M. I., & Sikder, J. (2008). Not to stigmatize but to humanize sexual lives of the transgender (hijra): condom chat in the AIDS era. Journal of LGBT Health Research (Special issue: issues on male sexual behaviors and HIV risk in South Asia). Working papers: (1) Khan, S. I., Gourab, G., Ahmed, T., Sarker, G. F., Chowdhury, F. K., Ghosh, S., et al. (2009). Understanding the operational dynamics and possible HIV interventions for residence-based female sex workers in two divisional cities in Bangladesh. Dhaka, Bangladesh: NASP, Save the Children USA and icddr,b. Presentations in scientific meetings and conferences: (1) Khan, S. I., Hussain, M. I., Gourab, G. & Azim, T. (2011, 16 March 2011). Use of a new approach to count and access diverse groups of hijra for scaling up HIV-preventions services in Bangladesh. Poster presented at the 13th Annual Scientific Conference (ASCON XIII), Dhaka. (2) Khan, S. I., Pasa, K., Gourab, G., & Islam, A. (2007). Indigenous populations of Bangladesh: Living with risks and vulnerabilities to STIs/HIV. 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP). Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Education/Credentials
MSS (Anthropology), University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh

Awards and Honors
The Vanderbilt-UAB Fogarty International Center AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP)Scholarship for the training on HIV-AIDS related qualitative data analysis and manuscript writing (Center for Global Health, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA)

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