He has shunned the condom
Sep 02, 2007
DEAR Barbara, it is important that you practise safe sex with your new-found partner because though you are both HIV positive, it is possible that you are at different levels of the progression of the disease.
Dear doctor, I am HIV positive and have just got a new boyfriend via the Internet, which has made me very happy. However, when we eventually met, he refused us using condoms, saying there is no use since we are both HIV positive. Is there any danger of us having unprotected sex since we cannot get infected again?
Please help, Barbara
DEAR Barbara, it is important that you practise safe sex with your new-found partner because though you are both HIV positive, it is possible that you are at different levels of the progression of the disease.
You did not say whether any of you are on ARVs or whether any of you is on first line drugs or on second line. Any of you could even be infected with a drug resistant strain, which can be passed on during unprotected sex.
Even when two people are both infected there can be so many different things about them that by having unprotected sex they can hurt each other.
Therefore when one is HIV-positive, it is important not to imagine that the worst has already happened and so throw all caution to the wind.
HIV has different strains; some being more virulent than others and this may partly explain why some people with HIV infection get very sick quickly and even die.
This could be because of the virulence of the strain they acquired.
You need also to know that there are other infections that are sexually transmitted like Herpes Simplex, Hepatitis B, syphilis and gonorrhea.
Having unprotected sex with another positive person can expose you to any of these dangers and so the need to use condoms.
By having unprotected sex, you can get pregnant and eventually pass on the virus to your baby.
Mother-to-child transmission of HIV is one of the drivers of this epidemic in Uganda and all positive women must be aware of it and seek counselling and help so that if possible it is eliminated.
All that I am talking about explains to a certain extent the concept of “Prevention with Positives†which all HIV-positive people need to be familiar with so that we may know that although we have a right to sex like all others, we also equally have a responsibility to protect others from getting infected with HIV.
Please help, Barbara
DEAR Barbara, it is important that you practise safe sex with your new-found partner because though you are both HIV positive, it is possible that you are at different levels of the progression of the disease.
You did not say whether any of you are on ARVs or whether any of you is on first line drugs or on second line. Any of you could even be infected with a drug resistant strain, which can be passed on during unprotected sex.
Even when two people are both infected there can be so many different things about them that by having unprotected sex they can hurt each other.
Therefore when one is HIV-positive, it is important not to imagine that the worst has already happened and so throw all caution to the wind.
HIV has different strains; some being more virulent than others and this may partly explain why some people with HIV infection get very sick quickly and even die.
This could be because of the virulence of the strain they acquired.
You need also to know that there are other infections that are sexually transmitted like Herpes Simplex, Hepatitis B, syphilis and gonorrhea.
Having unprotected sex with another positive person can expose you to any of these dangers and so the need to use condoms.
By having unprotected sex, you can get pregnant and eventually pass on the virus to your baby.
Mother-to-child transmission of HIV is one of the drivers of this epidemic in Uganda and all positive women must be aware of it and seek counselling and help so that if possible it is eliminated.
All that I am talking about explains to a certain extent the concept of “Prevention with Positives†which all HIV-positive people need to be familiar with so that we may know that although we have a right to sex like all others, we also equally have a responsibility to protect others from getting infected with HIV.