Worried About infection
I masturbated and ejaculated into a small polythene bag brought from a grocery store. I don't know if the cashier was hiv+.What if traces of her body fluids were present in the bag and could it have resulted in an infection.
I am having a sore throat now after a week.Am i suffering from an acute hiv infection?
I'm glad you reached out because I can tell from your writing that you're dealing with a lot of anxiety and worry. Also, it gives me a chance to clear up misinformation about HIV transmission that is out there that can feed into this worry, and may be helpful to others. It sounds like you are concerned about your genitals coming into contact with an object that may have come into contact with another person's bodily fluids earlier that day. First, we must remember there is a lot of misinformation about how HIV is transmitted. The five fluids HIV can be transmitted through are breast milk, blood, precum, semen, and anal and vaginal secretions, when they come in contact with a mucus membrane - more about that here: https://h-i-v.net/transmission. HIV is not expected to live for long at all, making environmental transmission outside the body virtually non-existent. This means HIV cannot be transmitted through contact with everyday surfaces- more about that here: https://h-i-v.net/myths-misconceptions.
There are messages that you may have heard from others or from the media that can make it seem like people living with HIV are a threat to those around them, and this is a misconception that makes life incredibly difficult for those living with HIV - more on that here: https://h-i-v.net/?p=2683 - so I am so grateful you asked and started this conversation. I hope this helps to provide some clarity and ease your mind.
Liz, Team Member
we are not medical professionals so can't determine your personal risk, can only provide information about transmission as we did above. So if you are still concerned, you should get tested. In fact, the CDC recommends people have at least one test between the ages of 13- 64 anyhow - more on that here: https://h-i-v.net/diagnosis-testing.
- Liz (Team Member)
Alafia (Peace) I am sorry to hear how this is stressing you out. Thank you for taking your time to reach out with your concerns. In my opinion I don't think you are at risk of infection from that incident. I would ease your mind if you went and got tested. Khafre (H-I-V.net Team Member)
