Expert: Terry B - 7/2/2009

Question
I was in bali and received unprotected sex from a sex worker one night while intoxicated.  2 days later i noticed a lesion on my penis and had flu like symptoms which both lasted about 4 days.  soon as i got home to the stated I went straight to the doctor for a herpes test, which in fact ended up being positive for HSV 1.  My question is since I do not know the status of this person (hiv infected or not), what is the chance she may have passed on hiv as well?  I've heard the receiver of the oral sex has a slim chance of being infected but, i may be wrong but if she was able to pass on HSV, she must of had an outbreak of some sort during the oral sex. I did not see any blood.

chain of events are as follows:
June 6........unprotected sex
June 8-11.....lesion on penis and flu like symptoms
june 12-22....felt 100% normal
june 23-july 1
today is july 2 and i feel fine again.

could this fever be an ongoing symptom of the herpes, some other weird balinesan disease, whats your opinion?

Answer
Dear Steven:

Peace.  I would hope that your health provider gave you an STD panel to check for other infections as well, and while it could be onset of Herpes or other viral or bacterial illness, it would be well worth your while to abstain from sharing your semen or blood with others and be tested again in a few weeks for HIV.  There are a variety of tests available to you, some of which can test for HIV earlier than others, but that is something you should discuss with your doctor with whom you already have a relationship.

The bottom line is that one can speculate endlessly online, but since you already have a health provider, discuss this with her/him and get tested.  That's the only way to know.

Best to you and yours,

Terry