[caltrane74]

All STDs are different. Some cannot be prevented by condom use either. HIV is a relatively easy one to avoid.

Yup, herpes is skin to skin.

So remember that old sayin' you learned as a kid.

"look before you dive into water"

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

Yup, herpes is skin to skin.

So remember that old sayin' you learned as a kid.

"look before you dive into water"

but what if you don't see anything? is it still transmittable?

 

[caltrane74]

but what if you don't see anything? is it still transmittable?

Not usually. Herpes needs to be flaring up for it to be transmitted. It also transmits off flaking skin....

But wearing a condom cuts down transmission by about 70-80%

 

[ganjavih]

but what if you don't see anything? is it still transmittable?

Less likely, but still possible.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

A good friend of mine dated a fellow for about a month before becoming intimate and contracted herpes. He was not symptomatic and didn't disclose the condition to her. Prick.

Venti de Milo, spend a few minutes on this site or bookmark it for future reference, it's loaded with useful information about testing and such - http://www.actoronto.org/

 

[Venti de Milo]

Thanks all for the info and input. I will wait til Jan to do the test. So after that, when should I test it again to ensure it's 100% clear?

 

[299 bloor call control.]

well barring another high-risk exposure, another test 6 months after the last one should be enough to say 99.99999% sure. The only way to be 100% sure is to abstain from sex altogether.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Keep in mind, herpes doesn't even have to be genital herpes (HSV-2) - even cold sores (HSV-1) can be transmitted to genital areas.

Considering the prevalence of both virus in the general population, acquiring either isn't an unlikely proposition.

AoD

 

[Urban Shocker]

The full six month wait between the "Ooops!" moment and the test always gives you peace of mind, because it gives your test result absolute certainty.

It isn't something - like low iron, or B12, or thyroid levels - that you need to get automatically tested for with your annual checkup. HIV can't just creep up on you, you need to have engaged in high-risk behaviour in order to make the test necessary.

 

[Admiral Beez]

See? If you just wear a condom, you don't have to worry your pretty head about any of this.

I've got to agree there. Honestly, in the developed world, HIV is one of the most easily avoided diseases out there. Don't shoot drugs and don't have unprotected sex and you're pretty much safe. Now, in the days before proper blood donor testing, and of course in the developing world avoidence was/is not nearly as easy, but really we have no excuse in the developed world to exposing ourselves to something so avoidable, yet so deadly.

The biggest killers of Canadians are heart disease and cancer. Now, if only there were simple instructions one could follow, like with HIV, to achieve near absolute immunity against these two killers.

 

[ganjavih]

I also find it extremely disappointing that HIV continues to spread the way it does. People have let their guard down, particularly within the gay community. AIDS is no longer feared as a deadly killer, it's now a chronic disease that you can live with.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

The biggest killers of Canadians are heart disease and cancer. Now, if only there were simple instructions one could follow, like with HIV, to achieve near absolute immunity against these two killers.

Heart disease can be greatly reduced by not smoking, regularly eating healthy meals, avoiding certain foods/food products and daily exercise.
Cancer is a bad one. There is so much we don't know about it's causes.

 

[Urban Shocker]

As someone who lost several friends to AIDS in the late 1980's and early 1990's, I agree with ganja about how disappointing the apparent new lax attitude is. The public perception of HIV is evolving, and maybe it is now seen more like type 2 diabetes as something that can be almost indefinitely managed as a result of medical advances. The development of penicillin also resulted in effective treatments that came to be taken for granted, and that in turn changed behaviour patterns, then antibiotics became over-prescribed, often not taken correctly, and are now less effective as a result. There are mood-enhancing drugs to help Mummy, and Ritalin to keep little junior in line, and we take it for granted that the medical research community will eventually develop pills to solve each and every one of our problems ...

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Ads for HIV medications in glossy magazines featuring beefy, healthy men climbing mountains can't help either

 

[Urban Shocker]

I think they're an example of how public perception of HIV has evolved from it being an automatic death sentence to a manageable condition.